Demonstrating improved confinement of energetic ions is one of the key goals of the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) stellarator. In the past campaigns, measuring confined fast ions has proven to be challenging. Future deuterium campaigns would open up the option of using fusion-produced neutrons to indirectly observe confined fast ions. There are two neutron populations: 2.45 MeV neutrons from thermonuclear and beam-target fusion, and 14.1 MeV neutrons from DT reactions between tritium fusion products and bulk deuterium. The 14.1 MeV neutron signal can be measured using a scintillating fiber neutron detector, whereas the overall neutron rate is monitored by common radiation safety detectors, for instance fission chambers. The fusion rates are dependent on the slowing-down distribution of the deuterium and tritium ions, which in turn depend on the magnetic configuration via fast ion orbits. In this work, we investigate the effect of magnetic configuration on neutron production rates in W7-X. The neutral beam injection, beam and triton slowing-down distributions, and the fusion reactivity are simulated with the ASCOT suite of codes. The results indicate that the magnetic configuration has only a small effect on the production of 2.45 MeV neutrons from DD fusion and, particularly, on the 14.1 MeV neutron production rates. Despite triton losses of up to 50 %, the amount of 14.1 MeV neutrons produced might be sufficient for a time-resolved detection using a scintillating fiber detector, although only in high-performance discharges.

After completing the main construction phase of Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) and successfully commissioning the device, first plasma operation started at the end of 2015. Integral commissioning of plasma start-up and operation using electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) and an extensive set of plasma diagnostics have been completed, allowing initial physics studies during the first operational campaign. Both in helium and hydrogen, plasma breakdown was easily achieved. Gaining experience with plasma vessel conditioning, discharge lengths could be extended gradually. Eventually, discharges lasted up to 6 s, reaching an injected energy of 4 MJ, which is twice the limit originally agreed for the limiter configuration employed during the first operational campaign. At power levels of 4 MW central electron densities reached 3  ×  1019 m−3, central electron temperatures reached values of 7 keV and ion temperatures reached just above 2 keV. Important physics studies during this first operational phase include a first assessment of power balance and energy confinement, ECRH power deposition experiments, 2nd harmonic O-mode ECRH using multi-pass absorption, and current drive experiments using electron cyclotron current drive. As in many plasma discharges the electron temperature exceeds the ion temperature significantly, these plasmas are governed by core electron root confinement showing a strong positive electric field in the plasma centre.

The stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) is presently under construction at Greifswald, Germany, and the start of operation is planned in 2006. W7-X is a large `advanced stellarator' of the HELIAS type (R = 5.5 m, a = 0.55 m, B0 = 3 T, five periods, moderate shear and variable rotational transform 5/6 ⩽ ι ⩽ 5/4 at the boundary) with the aims of demonstrating the reactor potential of this stellarator line in steady state operation close to fusion relevant parameters. The capability of stationary operation requires the realization of a superconducting magnet system consisting of 50 modular coils and 20 planar coils, the operation of a 140 GHz ECR CW heat source of 10 MW, the installation of a divertor to handle the power and particle flux, and to limit the impurity fraction to tolerable levels. Additional heating schemes, ICRF and NBI, will be provided for flexible experimentation.

The new ion beam facility GLADIS started the operation at IPP Garching. The facility is equipped with two individual 1.1 MW power ion sources for testing actively cooled plasma facing components under high heat fluxes. Each ion source generates heat loads between 3 and 55 MW/m 2 with a beam diameter of 70 mm at the target position. These parameters allow effective testing from probes to large components up to 2 m length. The high heat flux allows the target to be installed inclined to the beam and thus increases the heated surface length up to 200 mm for a heat flux of 15 MW/m 2 in the standard operating regime. Thus the facility has the potential capability for testing of full scale ITER divertor targets. Heat load tests on the WENDELSTEIN 7-X pre-series divertor targets have been successfully started. These tests will validate the design and manufacturing for the production of 950 elements.