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(EX/P3-16) Achieving and Sustaining Steady-State Advanced Tokamak Conditions on DIII-D

M.R. Wade1), M. Murakami1), D.P. Brennan2), T.A. Casper3), J.R. Ferron4), A.M. Garofalo5), C.M. Greenfield4), A.W. Hyatt4), R. Jayakumar3), J.E. Kinsey6), R.J. La Haye4), L.L. Lao4), E.A. Lazarus1), J. Lohr4), T.C. Luce4), C.C. Petty4), P.A. Politzer4), R. Prater4), E.J. Strait4), A.D. Turnbull4), J.G. Watkins7), W.P. West4)
 
1) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
2) Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
3) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, USA
4) General Atomics, San Diego, California, USA
5) Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
6) Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
7) Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Abstract.  Recent improvements in the stability and confinement quality of tokamak plasmas have opened up the possibility of reactor scenarios that are steady-state yet have comparable power producing capabilities as pulsed designs. Taking advantage of these advances, the DIII-D Advanced Tokamak program has demonstrated the feasibility of sustaining conditions that combine high fusion power density (beta > 4%) and high bootstrap current fraction ($ \sim$65%) for $ \sim$4 $ \tau_{E}^{}$. The duration of the high performance conditions is limited only by evolution of the current profile. Access to normalized beta values well above the ideal no-wall limit has been accomplished through stabilization of the resistive wall mode via plasma rotation. Modeling indicates that with density control consistent with that achieved experimentally, off-axis electron cyclotron current drive should be able to maintain a favorable current density profile for several seconds. Progress towards integration of these various elements into a self-consistent solution will be discussed. *Work supported by U.S. DOE Contracts DE-AC05-00OR22725, W-7405-ENG-48, DE-AC03-99ER54463, DE-AC04-94AL85000, Grants DE-FG02-89ER53297, DE-FG02-92ER54141.

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IAEA 2003