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The loss of MeV alpha particles from JET plasmas has been measured with a set of thin foil Faraday cup detectors during third harmonic heating of helium neutral beam ions. Tail temperatures of ∼ 2 MeV have been observed, with radial scrape off lengths of a few centimeters. Operational experience from this system indicates that such detectors are potentially feasible for future large tokamaks, but careful attention to screening rf and MHD induced noise is essential.

We have examined the observed currents in the front foils of the JET Faraday cup lost alpha particle diagnostic KA-2. In particular, we have sought to understand the currents during Ohmic plasmas for which the ion flux at the detectors was initially assumed to be negligible. We have considered two sources of this current: plasma ions (both deuterium and impurity) in the vicinity of the detector (including charge exchange neutrals) and photoemission from scattered UV radiation. Based upon modeling and empirical observation, the latter source appears most likely and, moreover, seems to be applicable to the currents in the front foil during ELMy H-mode plasmas. A very thin gold or nickel foil attached to the present detector aperture is proposed as a solution to this problem, and realistic calculations of expected fluxes of lost energetic neutral beam ions during TF ripple experiments are presented as justification of this proposed solution.