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This work was carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, funded by the European Union via the Euratom Research and Training Programme (Grant Agreement No. 101052200—EUROfusion). Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them. The BSC part of this work are grateful for the support received from the Departament de Recerca i Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya via the Research Group Fusion Group with code: 2021 SGR 00908., Peer Reviewed, "Article signat per 31 autors/es: P. Mantica, F. Auriemma, I. Casiraghi, D. Gallart, K. Kirov, E. Lerche, A. Salmi, A. Dal Molin, E. Delabie, J. Eriksson, J. Garcia, P. Huynh, P. Jacquet, T. Jonsson, V. Kiptily, E. Litherland–Smith, C.F. Maggi, M. Mantsinen, G. Marcer, M. Maslov, S. Menmuir, M. Nocente, E. Peluso, G. Pucella, D. Rigamonti, Z. Stancar, H. Sun, G. Szepesi, M. Tardocchi, D. Van Eester and JET Contributors", Postprint (published version)

In the JET DTE2 campaign a new method was successfully tested to detect the heating of bulk electrons by alpha-particles, using the dynamic response of the electron temperature T e to the modulation of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH). A fundamental deuterium (D) ICRH scheme was applied to a tritium-rich hybrid plasma with D-neutral beam injection (NBI). The modulation of the ion temperature T i and of the ICRH accelerated deuterons leads to modulated alpha-heating with a large delay with respect to other modulated electron heating terms. A significant phase delay of similar to 40 degrees is measured between central T e and T i, which can only be explained by alpha-particle heating. Integrated modelling using different models for ICRH absorption and ICRH/NBI interaction reproduces the effect qualitatively. Best agreement with experiment is obtained with the European Transport Solver/Heating and Current Drive workflow.

In DT plasmas, toroidal Alfven eigenmodes (TAEs) can be made unstable by the alpha particles resulting from fusion reactions, and may induce a significant redistribution of fast ions. Recent experiments have been conducted in JET deuterium plasmas in order to prepare scenarios aimed at observing alpha-driven TAEs in a future JET DT campaign. Discharges at low density, large core temperatures associated with the presence of internal transport barriers and characterised by good energetic ion confinement have been performed. ICRH has been used in the hydrogen minority heating regime to probe the TAE stability. The consequent presence of MeV ions has resulted in the observation of TAEs in many instances. The impact of several key parameters on TAE stability could therefore be studied experimentally. Modeling taking into account NBI and ICRH fast ions shows good agreement with the measured neutron rates, and has allowed predictions for DT plasmas to be performed.

Two ion cyclotron range of frequencies ( ICRF) heating schemes proposed for the half-field operation phase of ITER in hydrogen plasmas-fundamental H majority and second harmonic He-3 ICRF heating-were recently investigated in JET. Although the same magnetic field and RF frequencies (f approximate to 42 MHz and f approximate to 52 MHz, respectively) were used, the density and particularly the plasma temperature were lower than those expected in the initial phase of ITER. Unlike for the well-performing H minority heating scheme to be used in He-4 plasmas, modest heating efficiencies (n = P-absorbed/P-launched < 40%) with dominant electron heating were found in both H plasma scenarios studied, and enhanced plasma-wall interaction manifested by high radiation losses and relatively large impurity content in the plasma was observed. This effect was stronger in the He-3 ICRF heating case than in the H majority heating experiments and it was verified that concentrations as high as similar to 20% are necessary to observe significant ion heating in this case. The RF acceleration of the heated ions was modest in both cases, although a small fraction of the 3He ions reached about 260 keV in the second harmonic He-3 heating experiments when 5MW of ICRF power was applied. Considerable RF acceleration of deuterium beam ions was also observed in some discharges of the He-3 heating experiments (where both the second and third harmonic ion cyclotron resonance layers of the D ions are inside the plasma) whilst it was practically absent in the majority hydrogen heating scenario. While hints of improved RF heating efficiency as a function of the plasma temperature and plasma dilution (with He-4) were confirmed in the H majority case, the He-3 concentration was the main handle on the heating efficiency in the second harmonic He-3 heating scenario., QC 20120731

The measurement of fast ion populations is one of the diagnostic capabilities provided by neutron emission spectroscopy (NES). NES measurements were carried out during JET trace tritium campaign with the magnetic proton recoil neutron spectrometer. A favorable plasma scenario is (T)D where the resulting 14 MeV neutron yield is dominated by suprathermal emission from energetic tritons accelerated by radio frequency at their fundamental cyclotron frequency. Information on the triton distribution function has been derived from NES data with a simple model based on two components referred to as bulk (B) and high energy (HE). The HE component is based on strongly anisotropic tritium distribution that can be used for routine best-fit analysis to provide tail temperature values (T-HE). This article addresses to what extent the T-HE values are model dependent by comparing the model above with a two-temperature (bi-) Maxwellian model featuring parallel and perpendicular temperatures. The bi-Maxwellian model is strongly anisotropic and frequently used for radio frequency theory., QC 20100525

In JET, advanced tokamak research mainly focuses on plasmas with internal transport barriers (ITBs) that are strongly influenced by the current density profile. A previously developed optimized shear regime with low magnetic shear in the plasma centre has been extended to deeply negative magnetic shear configurations. High fusion performance with wide ITBs has been obtained transiently with negative central magnetic shear configuration: H-IPB98(y,H-2) similar to 1.9, beta(N) = 2.4 at I-p = 2.5 MA. At somewhat reduced performance, electron and ion ITBs have been sustained in full current drive operation with 1 MA of bootstrap current: H-IPB98(y,H-2) similar to 1, beta(N) = 1.7 at I-p = 2.0 MA. The ITBs were maintained for up to 11 s for the latter case. This duration, much larger than the energy confinement time (37 times larger), is already approaching a current resistive time. New real-time measurements and feedback control algorithms have been developed and implemented in JET for successfully controlling the ITB dynamics and the current density profile in the highly non-inductive current regime., QC 20100525

Third-harmonic ion-cyclotron-resonance heating of He-4-beam ions has produced for the first time on the JET tokamak high-energy populations of He-4 ions to simulate 3.5 MeV fusion-born alpha (alpha) particles. Acceleration of He-4 ions to the MeV energy range is confirmed by gamma-ray emission from the nuclear reaction Be-9(alpha, ngamma) C-12 and excitation of Alfven eigenmodes. Concomitant electron heating and sawtooth stabilization are observed. The scheme could be used in next-step tokamaks to gain information on trapped alpha particles and to test a diagnostics in the early nonactivated phase of operation., QC 20100525

The large physical size of the JET tokamak, its heating systems and diagnostics, and its capability to operate with full deuterium-tritium (D-T) plasmas, including high-power tritium neutral beam injection (NBI), give it unique possibilities in fast particle research in fusion plasmas. These have already been used to generate significant (2-3 MW level) power in fusion a-particles in the 1997 D-T campaign. Recent JET experiments have concentrated on two important scenarios of relevance to next-step tokamak devices: the ELMy H-mode plasmas and plasmas with strong internal transport barriers (ITBs). The achieved progress will help in preparation for a possible second D-T experiment on JET. Fast particle studies have also been carried out recently using ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH)-accelerated particles and external-excitation methods to study Alfven eigenmodes (AEs). Looking towards the future, the capability of JET will be enhanced by upgrades to the NBI system, ICRH system and various diagnostics. Results of the first JET D-T experiment (DTE1) form a basis on which to elaborate a second D-T experiment (DTE2) which could be proposed after these enhancements. The alpha-physics part of this programme would be divided between the investigation of alpha-particle confinement, heating and loss processes in the 'integrated scenarios' (where the discharge is as close as possible to an ITER-relevant scenario), and dedicated 'alpha-physics' experiments, with specially prepared plasmas. In ELMy H-mode plasmas the fusion performance could roach Q(=P-fusion/P-input) of similar to0.33 at the highest combined heating powers, corresponding to similar to 6x10(-4), allowing a test of the margins of TAE stability in quasi-steady-state conditions. The integrated-scenario fast particle programme could concentrate on the instabilities and heating in plasma regimes with strong steady-state ITBs, with expected Q values similar to0.58 and similar to2x10(, QC 20100525

The principles and operation at Joint European Torus (JET) of the first magnetic proton recoil (MPR) spectrometer for measurement of fusion neutron spectra are described. Some technical aspects of the instrument are discussed, including energy calibration, Addresses: Ericsson G, Uppsala Univ, Dept Neutron Res, Box 525, Uppsala, Sweden. Uppsala Univ, Dept Neutron Res, Uppsala, Sweden.