In this paper, the dynamic characteristics of type-I ELM time-series from the JET tokamak, the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment, have been investigated. The dynamic analysis has been focused on the detection of nonlinear structure in D a radiation time series. Firstly, the method of surrogate data has been applied to evaluate the statistical significance of the null hypothesis of static nonlinear distortion of an underlying Gaussian linear process. Several nonlinear statistics have been evaluated, such us the time delayed mutual information, the correlation dimension and the maximal Lyapunov exponent. The obtained results allow us to reject the null hypothesis, giving evidence of underlying nonlinear dynamics. Moreover, no evidence of low-dimensional chaos has been found; indeed, the analysed time series are better characterized by the power law sensitivity to initial conditions which can suggest a motion at the 'edge of chaos', at the border between chaotic and regular non-chaotic dynamics. This uncertainty makes it necessary to further investigate about the nature of the nonlinear dynamics. For this purpose, a second surrogate test to distinguish chaotic orbits from pseudoperiodic orbits has been applied. In this case, we cannot reject the null hypothesis which means that the ELM time series is possibly pseudo-periodic. In order to reproduce pseudo-periodic dynamical properties, a periodic state-of-the-art model, proposed to reproduce the ELM cycle, has been corrupted by a dynamical noise, obtaining time series qualitatively in agreement with experimental time series.

The Magnet and Power Supplies system in JET includes a ferromagnetic core able to increase the transformer effect by improving the magnetic coupling with the plasma. The iron configuration is based on an inner cylindrical core and eight returning limbs; the ferromagnetic circuit is designed in such a way that the inner column saturates during standard operations [1]. The modelling of the magnetic circuit is a critical issue because of its impact on several applications, including equilibrium and reconstruction analysis required for control applications. The most used model in present applications is based on Equivalent Currents (ECs) placed on the iron boundary together with additional specific constraints, in a 2D axisymmetric frame. The (circular) ECs are chosen, by using the available magnetic measurements, to best represent the magnetic polarization effect [1]. Due to the axisymmetric assumption such approach is not well suited to deal with significant 3D effects, e.g. arising in operations with Error Field Correction Coils (EFCC). In this paper a new methodology is proposed, based on a set of 3D-shaped ECs and able to better model the actual 3D magnetization giving rise to a linear system to be solved. According to a well assessed approach [2], the 3D shape of ECs is represented by a set of elementary sources. The methodology has been successfully validated in a number of JET dry-run experiments where 3D effects are generated by EFCC currents. The new procedure has been designed to be easily coupled with equilibrium or reconstruction codes such as EFIT/V3FIT. The proposed model resulted to be very effective in representing 3D iron magnetization, especially if compared with typical 2D models.

An algorithm for detection and automatic calculation of disruption main quantities has been proposed and tested on the discharges of recent campaigns in both JET and ASDEX Upgrade. The purpose of this paper is to describe a tool to support the construction of a reliable database, which is theoretically applicable to a wide variety of tokamaks and can support the operators in a very time consuming activity, reducing significantly the possibility of human errors. The algorithm performs its calculations on the basis of common and well defined criteria discussed with the Plasma and Control Operation Groups of the considered devices. Moreover, being the algorithm fully parameterized, it can be easily customized to other tokamaks and/or used for statistical purposes, according to criteria adopted in the framework of each study.

For simulation of plasma-facing component erosion in fusion experiments, an analytical expression for the ion velocity just before the surface impact including the local electric field and an optional surface biasing effect is suggested. Energy and angular impact distributions and the resulting effective sputtering yields were produced for several experimental scenarios at JET ILW mostly involving PFCs exposed to an oblique magnetic field. The analytic solution has been applied as an improvement to earlier ERO modelling of localized, Be outer limiter, RF-enhanced erosion, modulated by toggling of a remote, however magnetically connected ICRH antenna. The effective W sputtering yields due to D and Be ion impact in Type-I and Type-III ELMs and inter-ELM conditions were also estimated using the analytical approach and benchmarked by spectroscopy. The intra-ELM W sputtering flux increases almost 10 times in comparison to the inter-ELM flux.

The divertor solutions obtained with the plasma edge modelling tool SOLPS5.0 are discussed. The code results are benchmarked against carefully analysed L-mode discharges at various density levels with and without impurity seeding in the full-metal tokamaks ASDEX Upgrade and JET. The role of the cross-field drifts and currents in the solutions is analysed in detail, and the improvements achieved by fully activating the drift and current terms in view of matching the experimental signals are addressed. The persisting discrepancies are also discussed.

A Bayesian model to infer edge electron density profiles is developed for the JET lithium beam emission spectroscopy (Li-BES) system, measuring Li I (2p-2s) line radiation using 26 channels with similar to 1 cm spatial resolution and 10 similar to 20 ms temporal resolution. The density profile is modelled using a Gaussian process prior, and the uncertainty of the density profile is calculated by a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) scheme. From the spectra measured by the transmission grating spectrometer, the Li I line intensities are extracted, and modelled as a function of the plasma density by a multi-state model which describes the relevant processes between neutral lithium beam atoms and plasma particles. The spectral model fully takes into account interference filter and instrument effects, that are separately estimated, again using Gaussian processes. The line intensities are inferred based on a spectral model consistent with the measured spectra within their uncertainties, which includes photon statistics and electronic noise. Our newly developed method to infer JET edge electron density profiles has the following advantages in comparison to the conventional method: (i) providing full posterior distributions of edge density profiles, including their associated uncertainties, (ii) the available radial range for density profiles is increased to the full observation range (similar to 26 cm), (iii) an assumption of monotonic electron density profile is not necessary, (iv) the absolute calibration factor of the diagnostic system is automatically estimated overcoming the limitation of the conventional technique and allowing us to infer the electron density profiles for all pulses without preprocessing the data or an additional boundary condition, and (v) since the full spectrum is modelled, the procedure of modulating the beam to measure the background signal is only necessary for the case of overlapping of the Li I line with impurity lines.

Beryllium film deposition was studied with cavity samples in remote areas of the inner and outer JET divertor and below divertor tile 5 during the 2011-2012 campaign with the ITER-like wall. Predominantly beryllium films were formed inside the cavities with some additional carbon, the ratio Be/C was > 2. These deposited layers had high D/(Be+C) ratios of about 0.3. The formation of these films is mainly due to sticking of beryllium-containing particles with low sticking coefficients < 0.5. The observed surface loss probabilities depend on the position in the divertor. The particles responsible for film deposition originated from the location of in the divertor strike points.

We investigated the dependence of the backscatter component of the neutron spectrum on the emissivity profile. We did so for the JET neutron camera system, by calculating a profile-dependent backscatter matrix for each of the 19 camera channels using a MCNP model of the JET tokamak. We found that, when using a low minimum energy for the summation of the counts in the neutron pulse height spectrum, the backscatter contribution can depend significantly on the emissivity profile. The maximum variation in the backscatter level was 24% (8.0% when compared to the total emission). This effect needs to be considered when a correction for the backscatter contribution is applied to the measured profile. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

One of the important techniques used at JET for studying fast ions is based on measurements of gamma rays which are produced as a result of nuclear reactions between ions and plasma impurities. The intense neutron and gamma-ray fluxes expected during a DT campaign impose dew requirements on detector characteristics used in such experiments. In addition to good energy resolution, detectors must also be characterized by a high signal-to-noise ratio and allow to perform measurements at high counting rate about 1 Mcps. The scintillators which fulfill these requirements are, among others, LaBr3:Ce, already tested at JET, and CeBr3 with a scintillation decay time of similar to 20 ns. We report on measurements which were performed with a detector module equipped with a 3" x 3" CeBr3 scintillator and with an active voltage divider AVD@NCBJ, designed and constructed at NCBJ. Standard gamma -ray sources, as well as a PuBe source, were used for measurements. The comparison of measured and Monte Carlo simulated spectra is also presented.

A strong modelling program has been started in support of the future JET-DT campaign with the aim of guiding experiments in deuterium (D) towards maximizing fusion energy production in Deuterium-Tritium (DT). Some of the key elements have been identified by using several of the most updated and sophisticated models for predicting heat and particle transport, pedestal pressure and heating sources in an integrated modelling framework. For the high beta and low gas operational regime, the density plays a critical role and a trend towards higher fusion power is obtained at lower densities. Additionally, turbulence stabilization by E x B flow shear is shown to generate an isotope effect leading to higher confinement for DT than DD and therefore plasmas with high torque are suitable for maximizing fusion performance. Future JET campaigns will benefit from this modelling activity by defining clear priorities on their scientific program.