During phase 1, the development of H mode scenarios in a Tungsten environment will be tackled, both in support to Plasma Facing Components testing experiments requiring H mode and in preparation for long pulse H mode operation foreseen for phase 2. During this first phase of operation, the high frequency systems installed (up to 16 MW at the ion cyclotron frequency and at the lower hybrid frequency) will be optimized. In the plasma, the Tungsten concentration should remain below 0.1%, meaning that controlling the sources and transport of Tungsten will be one of the high priority research areas. The characterization of the confinement in H mode will be made through detailed studies of the transition from L to H mode, the impact of the large aspect ratio, the magneto-hydrodynamic stability, etc.
During the phase 2 of WEST operation, the completed actively cooled ITER like divertor will allow H mode long pulse operation. During this phase, the steady-state operation and related physics issues will become more and more important in view of the second phase of the ITER program and are also at the core of the research program of JT-60SA. This research effort will also be organized in view of the development of DEMO scenarios.
WEST research plan covers in greater details the scientific content of the Headline 2. The interested reader can also find more information on the foreseen WEST scenarios in [Bourdelle et al, Nuclear Fusion 2015].
Headline-2 blocks of experiments:
W2.1. Controlling plasma start-up and soft landing (phase-1 and phase-2)
W2.2 Optimizing robust heating scenarios (phase-1)
W2.3 Density and tungsten control in long pulses (phase-1 and 2)
W2.4 Access to long pulse H-mode (phase-1 and phase-2)
W2.5 Optimizing confinement for long pulse H-mode operation (phase 1 and phase 2)
W2.6 Towards disruption-free campaigns (phase 1 and phase 2)
W2.7 Current profile control and MHD stability (mostly phase 2)
W2.8 Advanced tokamak scenarios (phase 2 mostly)
W2.9 Controlled high density and high radiation regimes (phase 2 mostly)
W2.10 Control of slowly evolving burning plasmas (phase 2)
Last update : 06/28 2018 (678)
• WEST