ECCD power necessary for the neoclassical tearing mode stabilization in ITER

Hayashi, Nobuhiko; Ozeki, Takahisa; Hamamatsu, Kiyotaka; Takizuka, Tomonori

NTM stabilization by ECCD has been numerically studied in order to evaluate the necessary EC power for the stabilization of NTM on ITER. The time evolution of an island width of NTM is calculated by the modified Rutherford equation. The modification of background current profile by the EC current is calculated by the current diffusion equation and the variation of the tearing stability index ' is taken into account. When the EC power is higher than a threshold value, NTM with any island width can be fully stabilized. The dependence of the threshold power on parameters in the modified Rutherford equation is examined. The threshold power much depends on the parameters of the bootstrap current term in the modified Rutherford equation. The injected EC current decreases the value of ' through the background current modification, which results in the reduction of the threshold power. The effects of the peakedness of EC current profile and the EC power modulation on the threshold power are investigated. When the width of the EC current profile becomes half, the threshold power is reduced to half or less. The EC power modulation is inessential for the threshold power reduction if the EC current profile can be peaked. Considering the maximum value of the threshold power in the range of the parameters, the EC power of about 25 MW is found to be sufficient for the simultaneous stabilization of both the =3/2 and 2/1 mode NTM on ITER.