Recent developments in theory-based modelling of core heavy impurity transport are presented, and shown to be necessary for quantitative description of present experiments in JET and ASDEX Upgrade. The treatment of heavy impurities is complicated by their large mass and charge, which result in a strong response to plasma rotation or any small background electrostatic field in the plasma, such as that generated by anisotropic external heating. These forces lead to strong poloidal asymmetries of impurity density, which have recently been added to numerical tools describing both neoclassical and turbulent transport. Modelling predictions of the steady-state two-dimensional tungsten impurity distribution are compared with experimental densities interpreted from soft Xray diagnostics. The modelling identifies neoclassical transport enhanced by poloidal asymmetries as the dominant mechanism responsible for tungsten accumulation in the central core of the plasma. Depending on the bulk plasma profiles, neoclassical temperature screening can prevent accumulation, and can be enhanced by externally heated species, demonstrated here in ICRH plasmas.

A significant reduction of the turbulenceinduced anomalous heat transport has been observed in recent studies of magnetically confined plasmas in the presence of a significant fastion fractions. Therefore, the control of fastion populations with external heating might open the way to more optimistic scenarios for future fusion devices. However, little is known about the parameter range of relevance of these fastion effects which are often only highlighted in correlation with substantial electromagnetic fluctuations. Here, a significant fast ion induced stabilization is also found in both linear and nonlinear electrostatic gyrokinetic simulations which cannot be explained with the conventional assumptions based on pressure profile and dilution effects. Strong wavefast particle resonant interactions are observed for realistic parameters where the fast particle trace approximation clearly failed and explained with the help of a reduced Vlasov model. In contrast to previous interpretations, fast particles can actively modify the Poisson field equation-even at low fast particle densities where dilution tends to be negligible and at relatively high temperatures, i.e. T < 30T e . Further key parameters controlling the role of the fast ions are identified in the following and various ways of further optimizing their beneficial impact are explored. Finally, possible extensions into the electromagnetic regime are briefly discussed and the relevance of these findings for ITER standard scenarios is highlighted.

Recent progress in the understanding and prediction of the tungsten behaviour in the core of JET H-mode plasmas with ITER-like wall is presented. Particular emphasis is given to the impact of poloidal asymmetries of the impurity density. In particular, it is shown that the predicted reduction of temperature screening induced by the presence of low field side localization of the tungsten density produced by the centrifugal force is consistent with the observed tungsten behaviour in a JET discharge in H-mode baseline scenario. This provides first evidence of the role of poloidal asymmetries in reducing the strength of temperature screening. The main differences between plasma parameters in JET baseline and hybrid scenario discharges which affect the impact of poloidally asymmetric density on the tungsten radial transport are identified. This allows the conditions by which tungsten accumulation can be avoided to be more precisely defined.

Abstract. Coupling the full-wave solver TORIC (Plasma Phys. Contr. Fusion 41, 1, (1999)) and the bounce-averaged quasilinear Fokker-Planck solver SSFPQL (Nucl. Fusion 34, 1121, (1994) allows to determine the suprathermal ion populations produced by ion cyclotron heating of tokamak plasmas, while taking into account their effects on wave propagation and absorption. By using new numerical methods for the evaluation of the coefficients of the wave equations in non-Maxwellian plasmas and the transmission of data between TORIC and SSFPQL, the interface between the two codes has been made very efficient and accurate. As an example, we have re-analysed a minority heating scenario in the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak. The results illustrate the differences between the quasilinear evolution of fundamental and first harmonic ion cyclotron heating due to the fact that the latter is a finite Larmor radius effect. They also suggest that the main missing element for fully satisfactory self-consistent simulations of ion cyclotron experiments in toroidal devices is the absence of a detailed model for the losses of suprathermal ions due, for example, to interactions with low frequency turbulence or magnetohydrodynamic instabilities.

We present an ultrafast neural network (NN) model, QLKNN, which predicts core tokamak transport heat and particle fluxes. QLKNN is a surrogate model based on a database of 300 million flux calculations of the quasilinear gyrokinetic transport model QuaLiKiz. The database covers a wide range of realistic tokamak core parameters. Physical features such as the existence of a critical gradient for the onset of turbulent transport were integrated into the neural network training methodology. We have coupled QLKNN to the tokamak modelling framework JINTRAC and rapid control-oriented tokamak transport solver RAPTOR. The coupled frameworks are demonstrated and validated through application to three JET shots covering a representative spread of H-mode operating space, predicting turbulent transport of energy and particles in the plasma core. JINTRAC-QLKNN and RAPTOR-QLKNN are able to accurately reproduce JINTRAC-QuaLiKiz T i,e and n e profiles, but 3 to 5 orders of magnitude faster. Simulations which take hours are reduced down to only a few tens of seconds. The discrepancy in the final source-driven predicted profiles between QLKNN and QuaLiKiz is on the order 1%-15%. Also the dynamic behaviour was well captured by QLKNN, with differences of only 4%-10% compared to JINTRAC-QuaLiKiz observed at mid-radius, for a study of density buildup following the L-H transition. Deployment of neural network surrogate models in multi-physics integrated tokamak modelling is a promising route towards enabling accurate and fast tokamak scenario optimization, Uncertainty Quantification, and control applications.

The evolution of the JET high performance hybrid scenario, including central accumulation of the tungsten (W) impurity, is reproduced with predictive multi-channel integrated modelling over multiple confinement times using first-principle based core transport models. 8 transport channels (𝑇 𝑖 , 𝑇 𝑒 , 𝑗, 𝑛 𝐷 , 𝑛 𝐵𝑒 , 𝑛 𝑁𝑖 , 𝑛 𝑊 , 𝜔) are modelled predictively, with self-consistent sources, radiation and magnetic equilibrium, yielding a system with multiple non-linearities: This system can reproduce the observed radiative temperature collapse after several confinement times. W is transported inward by neoclassical convection driven by the main ion density gradients and enhanced by poloidal asymmetries due to centrifugal acceleration. The slow evolution of the bulk density profile sets the timescale for W accumulation. Modelling this phenomenon requires a turbulent transport model capable of accurately predicting particle and momentum transport (QuaLiKiz) and a neoclassical transport model including the effects of poloidal asymmetries (NEO) coupled to an integrated plasma simulator (JINTRAC). The modelling capability is applied to optimise the available actuators to prevent W accumulation, and to extrapolate in power and pulse length. Central NBI heating is preferred for high performance, but gives central deposition of particles and torque which increase the risk of W accumulation by increasing density peaking and poloidal asymmetry. The primary mechanism for ICRH to control W in JET is via its impact through turbulence in reducing main ion density peaking (which drives inward neoclassical convection), increased temperature screening and turbulent W diffusion. The anisotropy from ICRH also reduces poloidal asymmetry, but this effect is negligible in high rotation JET discharges. High power ICRH near the axis can sensitively mitigate against W accumulation, and dominant ion heating (e.g. He-3 minority) is predicted to provide more resilience to W accumulation than dominant electron heating (e.g. H minority) in the JET hybrid scenario. Extrapolation to DT plasmas finds 17.5MW of fusion power and improved confinement compared to DD, due to reduced ion-electron energy exchange, and increased Ti/Te stabilisation of ITG instabilities. The turbulence reduction in DT increases density peaking and accelerates the arrival of W on axis; this may be mitigated by reducing the penetration of the beam particle source with an increased pedestal density.

We present here the first phase-space characterization of convective and diffusive energetic particle losses induced by shear Alfvén waves in a magnetically confined fusion plasma. While single toroidal Alfvén eigenmodes (TAE) and Alfvén cascades (AC) eject resonant fast ions in a convective process, an overlapping of AC and TAE spatial structures leads to a large fast-ion diffusion and loss. Diffusive fast-ion losses have been observed with a single TAE above a certain threshold in the fluctuation amplitude.

A stationary regime with improved confinement (H 98(y,2) >1) and, simultaneously, improved stability (N >2.5) compared to standard H-mode has been investigated on ASDEX Upgrade for many years. This socalled "improved H-mode" is characterized by a q-profile with low central magnetic shear and q 0 1 that is obtained by early heating during the current ramp. The existence domain of this scenario is documented for 3.21 sawteeth as the main trigger of large NTMs are avoided and the low shear significantly reduces the amplitude of (3,2) modes present at high. The stability is eventually limited by the occurrence of a (2,1) mode at typically N~3. As far as the reactor relevance of this regime is concerned, its compatibility with significant central electron heating, with high edge densities and with type-II ELMs is of importance. The improved H-mode is, therefore, seen as candidate for a long pulse ITER "hybrid" operation.