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To support the design of an ITER ion-cyclotron range of frequency heating (ICRH) system and to mitigate risks of operation in ITER, CEA has initiated an ambitious Research & Development program accompanied by experiments on Tore Supra or test-bed facility together with a significant modelling effort. The paper summarizes the recent results in the following areas: Comprehensive characterization (experiments and modelling) of a new Faraday screen concept tested on the Tore Supra antenna. A new model is developed for calculating the ICRH sheath rectification at the antenna vicinity. The model is applied to calculate the local heat flux on Tore Supra and ITER ICRH antennas. Full-wave modelling of ITER ICRH heating and current drive scenarios with the EVE code. With 20 MW of power, a current of ±400 kA could be driven on axis in the DT scenario. Comparison between DT and DT(3He) scenario is given for heating and current drive efficiencies. First operation of CW test-bed facility, TITAN, designed for ITER ICRH components testing and could host up to a quarter of an ITER antenna. R&D of high permittivity materials to improve load of test facilities to better simulate ITER plasma antenna loading conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This model aims at simulating a magnetized plasma column connected on one side to a probe and on the other side to an ICRH (Ion Cyclotron Resonant Heating) antenna. This is a double probe modeling of a plasma flux tube exchanging perpendicular currents: rf polarization current and dc currents (inertia, viscous, and friction) perpendicular to the magnetic field. A self consistent solution for the rectified potential and the density is obtained under the assumptions of flute hypothesis, inertialess electrons, and no collision in parallel direction. The main effect of rf biasing on the antenna side is to shift the IV characteristic so that the floating potential can be increased up to ln(I0(eVrf/(kBTe))), with I0 the modified Bessel function of the first kind. On the contrary, the effect of dc currents is to decrease the plasma potential and the sheath potential which can be lower than 3kBTe/e or even be negative. Experimental characteristics are well matched by the 1D fluid code and exhibit very high negative currents (more than 30 ji the ion saturation current) for high positive biasing of the probe and for long flux tube (10 m). The non-saturation of the electron current is here due to high transverse transport enhanced by convective fluxes and dc currents able to bring an amount of density around the biased flux tube. During comparisons with experiments, the floating potential measured by a reciprocating probe is recovered by the code revealing that for a 120 V measured peak potential on the probe, the rf potential on the ICRH antenna is twice this value. Finally, the density profile can be flattened or steepened as a function of the transverse dc current direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]