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Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a promising method for quantifying the fuel content of the plasma-facing components of ITER both in between plasma discharges (in-situ) and after maintenance operations. The aim of the present study is to test the applicability of in-situ LIBS for monitoring deuterium (D) and helium (He) content of W samples exposed to fusion relevant plasma fluxes in the linear plasma device Pilot-PSI. The D loading was performed during 1000 s of plasma exposure at low (200-300 °C) surface temperatures. Despite of low intensity and noisy LIBS spectra, H and D lines, at 656.1 and 656.3 nm, respectively, could be fitted with Lorentzian contours and reliably resolved at 1.2 mbar background pressure of argon. In the case of He loading, the samples were also exposed to plasma during 1000 s while the surface temperature reached values up to 720 °C at the center. Already at 10–2 mbar residual pressure of the device, the He I line at 587.6 nm was visible for the first 2–3 laser shots. We demonstrated that in-situ LIBS is a reliable method for detection of He and D retention in ITER-relevant materials. Nevertheless, for measuring relative and absolute concentrations of D and He in the ITER-relevant samples, further studies are needed.

A strong effect of divertor configuration on the threshold power for the L-H transition (P LH ) was observed in recent JET experiments in the new ITER-like Wall (ILW) [1–3] . Following a series of EDGE2D-EIRENE code simulations with Be impurity and drifts a possible mechanism for the P LH variation with the di- vertor geometry is proposed. Both experiment and code simulations show that in the configuration with lower neutral recycling near the outer strike point (OSP), electron temperature (T e ) peaks near the OSP prior to the L -H transition, while in the configuration with higher OSP recycling T e peaks further out in the scrape-off layer (SOL) and the plasma stays in the L-mode at the same input power. Code results show large positive radial electric field (E r ) in the near SOL under lower recycling conditions leading to a large E ×B shear across the separatrix which may trigger earlier (at lower input power) edge turbulence suppression and lower P LH . Suppressed T e ‘s at OSP in configurations with strike points on vertical targets (VT) were observed earlier and explained by a geometrical effect of neutral recycling near this particular position, whereas in configurations with strike points on horizontal targets (HT) the OSP appears to be more open for neutrals (see e.g. review paper. EURATOM 633053

In this work we investigate the effects induced by the presence of nitrogen in a detached-like hydrogen plasmas in linear plasma machine Magnum-PSI. Detachment has been achieved by increasing the background neutral pressure in the target chamber by means of H 2 /N 2 puffing and two cases of study have been set up, i.e. at 2 and 4 Pa. Achieved n e are ITER-relevant i.e. above 10 20 m −3 and electron temperatures are in the range 0.8–2 eV. A scan among five different N 2 /H 2 +N 2 flux ratios seeded have been carried out, at values of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%. A n e decrease while increasing the fraction of N 2 has been observed for both background pressures, resulting in a plasma pressure drop of ̴ 30%. T e remains constant among all scans. The peak intensity of NH*(A 3 ∏->X 3 ∑ − , ∆v = 0) at 336 nm measured with optical emission spectroscopy increases linearly with the N 2 content, together with the NH 3 signal in the RGA. A further dedicated experiment has been carried out by puffing separately H 2 /N 2 and H 2 /He mixtures, being helium a poorly-reactive atomic species, hence excluding a priori nitrogen-induced molecular assisted recombination. Interestingly, plasma pressure and heat loads to the surface are enhanced when increasing the content of He in the injected gas mixture. In the case of N 2 , we observe an opposite behavior, indicating that N–H species actively contribute to convert ions to neutrals. Recombination is enhanced by the presence of nitrogen. Numerical simulations with two different codes, a global plasma-chemical model and a spatially-resolved Monte Carlo code, address the role of NH x species behaving as electron donor in the ion conversion with H + by means of what we define here to be N-MAR i.e. NH x + H + → NH x + + H, followed by NH x + + e − → NH x- 1 + H. Considering the experimental findings and the qualitative results obtained by modelling, N-MAR process is considered to be a possible plasma-chemical mechanism responsible for the observed plasma pressure drop and heat flux reduction. Further studies with a coupled code B2.5-Eunomia are currently ongoing and may provide quantitative insights on the scenarios examined in this paper.

A series of neon seeded JET ELMy H-mode pulses is considered from the modeling as well as from the experimental point of view. For two different Ne seeding rates and two different D puffing gas levels the heating power, P heat , is in the range 22–29.5 MW. The main focus is on the numerical reconstruction of the total radiated power (which mostly depends on the W concentration) and its distribution between core and divertor and of Z eff(which mostly depends on the Ne concentration). To model self-consistently the core and the SOL two input parameters had to be adjusted case by case: the SOL diffusivity, D SOL , and the core impurity inward pinch, v pinch . D SOL had to be increased with increasing Ne and the level of v pinch had to be changed, for any given Ne , according to the level of P heat : it decreases with increasing P heat . Since the ELM frequency, f ELM , is experimentally correlated with P heat , (it increases with P heat ) the impurity inward pinch can be seen as to depend on f ELM . Therefore, to maintain a low v pinch level (i.e. high f ELM ) Ne / P heat should not exceed a certain threshold, which slightly increases with the D puffing rate. This might lead to a limitation in the viability of reducing the target heat load by Ne seeding at moderate D , while keeping Z effat acceptably low level. EURATOM 633053

Nuclear materials and energy 37, 101521 - (2023). doi:10.1016/j.nme.2023.101521 Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam [u.a.]

The status of the literature is reviewed for several thermophysical properties of pure solid and liquid tungsten which constitute input for the modelling of intense plasma-surface interaction phenomena that are important for fusion applications. Reliable experimental data are analyzed for the latent heat of fusion, the electrical resistivity, the specific isobaric heat capacity, the thermal conductivity and the mass density from the room temperature up to the boiling point of tungsten as well as for the surface tension and the dynamic viscosity across the liquid state. Analytical expressions of high accuracy are recommended for these thermophysical properties that involved a minimum degree of extrapolations. In particular, extrapolations were only required for the surface tension and viscosity.

The effect of helium plasma operation on the erosion of plasma-facing components at the low-field side divertor of ASDEX Upgrade was investigated during the 2022 helium experimental campaign. A set of tungsten-covered graphite samples with small platinum marker spots was exposed to both L-mode and H-mode plasma discharges. The highest net erosion of over 1.1 nm/s was observed around the H-mode strike point similar to the case in deuterium plasma. Significant helium inventories of about 6 × 1016 He/cm2 were measured in the scrape-off layer region of the divertor. Impurity deposition including boron and deuterium showed a distinct peak up to 2.4 × 1017 B/cm2 and 1.0 × 1016 D/cm2 between the strike points, and significant boron inventories up to 5.9 × 1016 B/cm2 were also measured on the scrape-off layer side of the H-mode strike point. Platinum re-deposition was not detected between the marker spots, suggesting that it occurs only very locally within the markers. Overall erosion was, as expected, higher than in deuterium discharges, and it also remained comparatively high towards the scrape-off layer, unlike with deuterium.