Results from the first experiments to drive Alfven eigenmodes (AEs) with antennas external to a tokamak plasma are presented. In ohmically heated plasma discharges, direct experimental measurements of the damping of toroidicity induced AEs (TAEs) have allowed an identification of different regimes corresponding to different dominant TAE absorption mechanisms with a wide range of damping rates, 10-3 ⩽ γ/w ⩽ 10-1. In plasmas heated by ion cyclotron resonance heating, neutral beam injection heating, lower hybrid heating and high plasma current ohmic heating, a new class of weakly damped Alfven eigenmodes, the kinetic Alfven eigenmodes, predicted in theoretical models that include finite Larmor radius and finite parallel electric field effects, has been identified experimentally

Alfvén eigenmodes and other magnetohydrodynamic phenomena have been studied in tokamak plasmas at the Joint European Torus (JET) using a new eight-channel, 4 s, 1 MHz, 12-bit data acquisition system (KC1F) in conjunction with the JET fast Mirnov magnetic fluctuation pickup coils. To this end, the JET magnetic pickup coils were calibrated in the range 30–460 kHz using a new remote calibration technique which accounts for the presence of the first few LRC circuit resonances. Signal processing software has been developed to implement the calibration via digital filtering. A data analysis program has been written which produces spectrograms of fluctuation amplitude and toroidal mode number versus frequency and time, both interactively and for automatic overnight analyses. Modes with amplitudes δB/B⩾10−8 and toroidal mode numbers |n|<32 are now routinely detected. Since KC1F data are now available for over 4000 JET discharges, a pulse-characterization database has been developed to help select pulses of interest for detailed analysis.

Astract. The change in thermal transport aaoss the L + H transition is studied in detail for those JET high performance H-modes which have a very fast transftion. It is found that in these pulses the transport changes very rapidly (< 4 msecs) over a very large radial region 0.5 < p < 1, and a very large transport barrier is formed. The reasons for the formation of this barrier are discussed.

High-frequency magnetic activity with chrvacferisfics expected of tomidicityinduced AlfvCn eigenmodes CTAEs) has been observed in JET discharges heated by neutral beam injection and ion cyclotron resonance. heating. The mode frequency is found to scale in the expected way with the magnetic field and plasma densicy and the. frequency specua show the characteristic multimode TA@ ~Wchlre~ seen in other devices. A correlation bemeen fast-panicle loss levels and the mode amplitude is also suggested by the dafa . , Toroidicity-induced Alfvin eigenmodes (e.g. [l]) can be driven unstable by fast particles originating from neutral beam injection, RF heating or fusion reactions [f-5]. Their potential role in fusion reactors, where they may be destabilized by the super-Alfvinic a-population, is a subject of concern as they may lead to anomalously rapid losses of or-particles. Not only would this lead to a reduction in the efficiency of a-particle heating, but the expulsion of high-energy E'S from the plasma could result in significant damage to the first wall.Recent observations [6][7][8][9] have confirmed the excitation of such modes in additionally heated plasma and have shown that they are associated with losses of fast particles from the bulk plasma In this letter the evidence for the presence of TAE activity is reported in JET plasmas with neutral beam andor ion cyclotron resonance heating.In toroidal plasmas, poloidal mode coupling due to toroidicity leads to the existence of gaps in the shear Alfven continuum. TAE modes are discrete global eigenmodes

Pellet enhanced performance (PEP) has been observed in a number of JET discharges at various plasma conditions, in both L and H modes, with the H multiplier (the confinement enhancement factor over the Goldston confinement time) covering the range from 1 to 4, and with plasma currents from 1 MA to 4.1 MA. Most of the PEP plasmas have been created by refuelling with pellets of 4 mm diameter injected at 1.2 km/s. PEPs show an improved central confinement with an effective heat conductivity reduced by factors of approximately 2-5 relative to otherwise comparable discharges. This is possibly related to the inverted shear in the plasma core due to the large local bootstrap current density. The limitations in the PEP performance seem to be set by at least two mechanisms: impurity behaviour, MHD activity or a combination of both. In certain discharges, MHD modes seem to be able to check the often observed impurity accumulation. Too much MHD mode activity, however, easily destroys the enhanced confinement of the PEP discharge. The stability of the ballooning modes has been studied and the PEP plasma core is found to be in the second stability region against ballooning modes or close to marginal stability. In a number of discharges complex high (m,n) modes have been observed with the soft X-ray cameras. The behaviour of the low (m,n) MHD modes can only be understood by considering the detailed evolution of the inverted q profile, which exists in a given discharge