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 next step in the Wendelstein stellarator line is the large superconducting device Wendelstein 7-X, currently under construction in Greifswald, Germany. Steady-state operation is an intrinsic feature of stellarators, and one key element of the Wendelstein 7-X mission is to demonstrate steady-state operation under plasma conditions relevant for a fusion power plant. Steady-state operation of a fusion device, on the one hand, requires the implementation of special technologies, giving rise to technical challenges during the design, fabrication and assembly of such a device. On the other hand, also the physics development of steady-state operation at high plasma performance poses a challenge and careful preparation. The electron cyclotron resonance heating system, diagnostics, experiment control and data acquisition are prepared for plasma operation lasting 30 min. This requires many new technological approaches for plasma heating and diagnostics as well as new concepts for experiment control and data acquisition.

In metallic tokamaks, the interplay between particle transport and MagnetoHydroDynamic (MHD) activity might lead to impurities accumulation and finally to disruption. Studying such phenomena is thus essential if stationary discharges are to be achieved. Measuring the soft X-ray (SXR) radiation ([0.1 keV; 20 keV]) of magnetic fusion plasmas is a standard way of accessing valuable information on particle transport and MHD. Generally, like at Tore Supra (TS), the analysis is performed with a 2D tomographic system composed of several cameras equipped with silicon barrier diodes (SBD). On WEST the installation of an upper divertor masks many of the actual TS vertical diodes so that no proper tomography is possible. This paper presents the design of a new SXR diagnostic for the WEST project developed in collaboration with IPPLM (Poland) and the Warsaw University of Technology, based on a triple gas electron multiplier (GEM) detector. Preliminary simulations performed to size and position the detector and its electronics inside the vertical thimble are also presented, in particular estimation of magnetic field and temperature variation affecting GEM spatial resolution and signal quality. As a conclusion, perspectives about tomographic capabilities of the new system for studying impurity transport are given

A pulse height analysis (PHA) system has been designed and manufactured for the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, in such a way as to be already compatible with later quasi-continuous operation requirements. The diagnostic will provide X-ray spectra with energy resolution better than 180 eV. The system has three energy channels: 0.25-20 keV, 0.95-20 keV and 1.5-20 keV. For each channel a separate Silicon Drift Detector (SDD) equipped with a suitably selected beryllium foil is used. The range of the 3 energy channels can be further adapted to particular experiments by moving via a pneumatic actuator additional beryllium filters in front of the fixed ones. The PHA system is intended for measuring impurity species (e.g. C, Fe, Ni), electron temperature and for investigating possible suprathermal tails in the spectra. The system will be installed on the horizontal port AEK50 on W7-X. The SDD detectors, the replaceable filters and the adjustable piezo driven slits which allow to suitably adapt the X-ray signal intensity are mounted inside a vacuum chamber which is connected to the plasma vessel via a gate valve. The on-air diagnostic components are the preamplifiers, the Digital X-Ray Processor (XIA, U.S.A.), a computer, and an X-ray calibration source. For controlling the operation of the entire diagnostic system, as well as, for the data acquisition of the electrical pulses coming a special code was developed. The paper presents the construction of the PHA system for W7-X and the laboratory tests of its mechanical parts together with the information on the code developed to operate the diagnostic. The diagnostic was also tested and characterised by measuring Fe55 spectrum and fluorescence spectra of Ni, Fe, Cr and Cu induced by an X-ray mini-tube.