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DOE OSTI2024

The role of ion-scale micro-turbulence in pedestal width of the DIII-D wide-pedestal QH mode

The low-edge rotation, intrinsically ELM-free, and improved confinement wide-pedestal quiescent H-mode (QH-mode), discovered in DIII-D tokamak, has pedestal widths exceeding the EPED-kinetic-ballooning mode (KBM) model scaling typically by at least 25%. Ion-scale ($k_yp_s$ < 1) microturbulence and its role in setting the pedestal structure is investigated using the radially local δ$f$ gyrokinetic code CGYRO. The electromagnetic trapped electron mode (TEM) is unstable at the pedestal top, while plasma beta (β$_e$) is ∼60% below the KBM onset threshold and the electron temperature gradient mode is found to be unstable in the peak gradient region. Nonlinear simulation reveals that the ion-scale turbulence could produce electron energy flux consistent with the flux inferred from power balance at the pedestal top, with a reasonable variation of the local shearing rate; and the local neoclassical transport from NEO is dominant over the simulated turbulent transport in the ion energy flux channel. The simulated ion-scale turbulence produces much lower electron energy flux than inferred from experiment in the pedestal peak gradient region. A correction to the EPED-KBM pedestal width scaling is obtained based on the two-dimensional scan of pedestal top plasma beta (β$_e$) and normalized electron density and temperature scale lengths,${a}$/${L_n}_e$, ${a}$/${L_T}_n$using CGYRO linear simulations. Mode transitions among TEM, micro-tearing mode, ion-temperature gradient mode and KBM, are observed in the 2D scan at the pedestal top. A fixed normalized growth rate for these drift-type modes is taken to determine the pedestal width scaling, which shows good consistency with the QH experimental database on pedestal heights and widths. The onset of KBM instabilities and the local E × B shear suppression criterion set the lower and upper limit for the pedestal width of standard QH-mode, wide-pedestal QH-mode and type-I ELMy H mode. A potentially higher and wider pedestal is expected from the new scaling of pedestal width. This work presents an improved understanding of the ion-scale micro-turbulence of wide-pedestal QH-mode and sheds light on a promising scenario for future reactors, including ITER and beyond.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Enhanced pedestal transport driven by edge collisionality on Alcator C-Mod and its role in regulating H-mode pedestal gradients

Experimental measurements of plasma and neutral profiles across the pedestal are used in conjunction with 2D edge modeling to examine pedestal stiffness in Alcator C-Mod H-mode plasmas. Enhanced D α experiments on Alcator C-Mod observed pedestal degradation and loss in confinement below a critical value of net power crossing the separatrix, P net = $P^{crit}_{net}$ ≈ 2.3 MW, in the absence of any external fueling. New analysis of ionization and particle flux profiles reveal saturation of the pedestal electron density, $n^{ped}_{e}$, despite continuous increases in ionization throughout the pedestal, inversely related to P net . A limi to the pedestal $\nabla$n e emerges as the particle flux, Γ D , continues to grow, implying increases in the effective particle diffusivity, D eff . This is well-correlated with the separatrix collisionality, $v^*_{sep}$ and a turbulence control parameter, α t , implying a possible transition in type of turbulence. The transition is well correlated with the experimentally observed value of $P^{crit}_{net}$. SOLPS-ITER modeling is performed for select discharges from the power scan, constrained with experimental electron and neutral densities, measured at the outer midpane. The modeling confirms general growth in D eff , consistent with experimental findings, and additionally suggests even larger growth in Χ e at the same $P^{crit}_{net}$.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Density limit in peeling-limited pedestals at and above the Greenwald value in DIII-D high poloidal beta plasmas

High pressure, peeling limited pedestals with pedestal normalized beta β N,ped >2 and pedestal top density n ped at or above the Greenwald density nG have been achieved in DIII-D high poloidal beta plasmas, with high global normalized beta β N >3 and energy confinement H 98 ~1.2-1.7. Higher β N allows higher pedestal density above the Greenwald value and higher pedestal pressure, even with a low injected torque. MHD modeling confirms that the experimental profiles lie near the peeling-mode unstable boundary with high normalized pressure gradient βMHD and high edge current density. Experimental analysis and stability calculations indicate that the high poloidal beta with strong Shafranov shift, high βMHD and weak/negative magnetic shear improves the pedestal stability by decoupling the peeling and ballooning modes and stabilizing the ballooning modes, thus facilitating access to the second stable region of peeling-ballooning mode. The access to the second stable peeling-ballooning stability region opens Super-H-like channels without extremely strong shaping or strong torque injection. The high-pressure peeling pedestal allows the pedestal density to go beyond the Greenwald limit with strong ExB shear maintained: pedestal pressure increases with pedestal density even when n ped >n G , until reaching the ideal MHD instability boundary, where giant ELMs occur. The giant ELMs are dominated by a strong n=1 component and cause a large reduction of the edge pressure, but a negligible change of the core pressure, consistent with kink/peeling-mode induced instability. The pedestal recovers from the collapse and typically sustains a high baseline density, around the Greenwald limit, during the whole discharge duration. Experiments also found that internal transport barriers and n ped ~0.9nG, peeling limited pedestals could be simultaneously achieved in high β N plasmas, while an internal feedback between ITB strength and pedestal performance is found.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Progress in pedestal and edge physics: Chapter 3 of the special issue: on the path to tokamak burning plasma operation

This paper describes the extensive progress that has been made in the understanding of tokamak pedestal physics since the 2007 publication of ‘Progress in the ITER Physics Basis’ (Ikeda 2007 Nucl. Fusion 47 E01–S500). It serves as Chapter 3 of the 2025 Nuclear Fusion Special Issue titled ‘On the Path to Tokamak Burning Plasma Operation’ (Campbell et al 2025 Nucl. Fusion ). This review was compiled by the pedestal and edge physics (PEP) community affiliated with the International Tokamak Physics Activity organization. It attempts to collect in one place citations to the majority of published literature on the pedestal physics topics that will be most important for the operation of a future power producing burning plasma tokamak. These include citations to publications describing the physics of the pedestal plasmas in many operating tokamaks worldwide and the pedestal physics projections for several near-term future devices including ITER. Descriptions of experimental results, interpretive modeling and predictive extrapolations are integrated together and comprehensive references are provided. This review is organized around four primary technical sections, viz.: pedestal structure, edge localized mode (ELM) characteristics, ELM control and regimes without large ELMs. Key results from many of the references are described briefly and set into the tokamak burning plasma power plant context. In addition, different perspectives on pedestal physics topics that are currently under debate within the community are also described, to provide guidance on needs for future research. Finally, attempts are made to describe conclusions from all of this progress consistent with discussions by the pedestal physics community at this time. The goal of this review is to provide a useful reference document for pedestal physics researchers going forward toward operation of a burning tokamak fusion plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Understanding the formation of a low-pressure pedestal in the presence of a strong internal transport barrier in DIII-D high β p plasmas

As a promising scenario for fusion reactors, the high poloidal-beta (β P ) scenario is characterized by a strong large radius internal transport barrier (ITB), which significantly enhances the overall confinement quality and the bootstrap current fraction for fully non-inductive operation. It is frequently observed that in the presence of a strong ITB, the pedestal height is lower and is accompanied by small edge localized modes (ELMs), which further improves the compatibility of a high performance core with an edge solution. A mechanism for the formation of the low pedestal is proposed in this paper. It is found that the strong ITB creates an off-axis bootstrap current to clamp the local safety factor q, and thus the magnetic shear in the outer core/pedestal region is increased. Gyrokinetic simulations with the CGYRO code show that the higher magnetic shear brings the experimental profiles into the range where the growth rate of drift-wave instabilities and thus transport is higher, and therefore a lower pedestal gradient is expected. Here, the combination of low pedestal and high magnetic shear further enhances the turbulent transport across the whole pedestal, consistent with power balance analysis. Such a positive feedback mechanism ultimately results in a lower pressure pedestal as observed in experiments. Under such a low pedestal, linear simulations with BOUT++ predict the growth rates of peeling–ballooning modes to be lower across the whole toroidal mode number spectra, and the nonlinear BOUT++ simulation exhibits lower saturated fluctuation intensity as well, consistent with the experimentally observed lower ELM size.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Pedestal formation via different trajectories in the stability space in response to the timing scan of neutral beam heating in DIII-D

The frequency of type-I ELMs decreases as the initiation of the neutral beam injection (NBI) heating is delayed with respect to the time when plasma current (I p ) reaches flat-top in the ITER Baseline Scenario discharges in DIII-D. Henceforth, the time gap between the NBI initiation and I p flat-top will be referred to as “heating delay.” As the heating delay is modified, pedestal formation follows different trajectories in the edge current density–pedestal pressure gradient (j edge -∇p e ped ) space from the L-H transition toward the first ELM event. During the stationary phase after the first ELM, the ELM frequency (f ELM ) decreases by a factor of ~2 as the heating delay is increased. A longer pedestal recovery time in the inter-ELM period is observed for the low f ELM discharges as compared to the high f ELM discharges. Both low and high f ELM discharges show nearly identical profiles of electron density and temperature and have a similar MHD stability just before an ELM crash. However, a marked difference is observed in the magnetic spectrogram of the high and low f ELM discharges in response to the variation in the heating delay. The main difference is in the 200–400 kHz range of the magnetic spectra. A quasi-coherent mode (QCM) at 220 kHz and weaker broadband fluctuations are observed in the high f ELM discharges, while only strong broadband fluctuations are prevalent in the low f ELM discharges. ELM-synchronized analysis shows that the time evolution of these modes is different for the high and low f ELM discharges. The localization of both these modes is confirmed at the maximum gradient region of the pedestal. We hypothesize that these modes cause important pedestal transport and that the difference in the pedestal recovery of the high and low f ELM discharges is a result of the difference in transport driven by these modes, as they change with changes in the heating delay. It is demonstrated experimentally for the first time that discharges with similar pedestal parameters can carry the history of the heating delay into the stationary phase and that changes in turbulent-driven transport are a likely cause of changes in f ELM observed with variations of heating delay.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Towards self-consistent integrated modeling of the tokamak pedestal, scrape-off layer, and divertor using SOLPS-ITER and EPED

A predictive, self-consistent integrated model of the tokamak edge plasma and neutral system has been developed and validated against experimental data from DIII-D, spanning from the divertor target and scrape-off layer to the top of the pedestal. The model uses the SOLPS-ITER fluid boundary plasma and neutral code to constrain the EPED prediction of the pedestal height and width by taking the separatrix temperature and density calculated from SOLPS as inputs to EPED. An empirical proxy function based on data from a subset of these discharges is then used to infer the ratio of density at the pedestal top to that at the separatrix based on the electron temperature at the divertor target. This allows the density at the top of the pedestal to be provided to EPED as well, so that knowledge of this quantity is no longer required a priori, while SOLPS radial transport coefficients are needed instead. The gas puff rate provided to SOLPS is then a primary model input for this forward model coupling (along with radial transport coefficients, which are kept fixed through each scan in this study). Comparisons with measurements from DIII-D density scans through a range of target conditions find significant pedestal pressure degradation as the density is increased towards detachment in three different divertor configurations, consistent with the experimental data in these ballooning-limited pedestal regimes.

core-edge integration↗

DOE OSTI2025

Impact of the isotope effect on divertor detachment and pedestal structure in DIII-D

Dedicated H-mode hydrogen experiments have been conducted at DIII-D and are compared to similar deuterium plasmas under a range of divertor conditions, revealing significant effects of the isotope mass on divertor and pedestal conditions. H-mode confinement is found to be systematically lower in hydrogen and experiences a worse degradation with increased fueling. This coincides with a higher ne,sep in hydrogen for similar fueling rates. When ne,ped is matched in hydrogen and deuterium as are the ne and Te pedestal structures, the target conditions deviate strongly from each other. An analysis of two major factors in the pedestal structure, pedestal stability and neutral fueling, shows they are not sufficient to explain either the pedestal differences between isotopes or the hydrogen pedestal structure respectively. An analysis of hydrogen and deuterium density ramps demonstrates a 20% higher ion current and a 30% higher upstream density at detachment onset in hydrogen. The characteristics of target heat flux and divertor radiation are shown to change significantly with the isotope mass in each divertor operational regime. The results shown here indicate divertor conditions trend with ion mass in a manner beneficial for divertor performance in future devices.

Mattes, Ray [Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (Un↗

DOE OSTI2025

Observation of pedestal mode spreading into SOL and broadening of divertor particle flux width on EAST tokamak

Pedestal turbulence spreading into a crape-off layer (SOL) can be used to explain the experimentally observed strong pedestal-SOL coupling and is expected to be important for the broadening of divertor deposition profiles in future devices (Xu et al 2019 Nucl. Fusion 59 126039). In the EAST tokamak, it is found that an electromagnetic (EM) mode in the pedestal region can spread into the SOL and broaden the divertor particle flux width. Multi-channel fluctuation reflectometry is used to measure the density fluctuations at the plasma edge. The EM mode rotates in the electron diamagnetic drift direction in the lab frame with a frequency range of [40–90] kHz, toroidal mode number n= 12–13 and poloidal wavenumber k θ = 0.41 cm −1 . The mode amplitude peaks around the maximum of the pedestal density gradient. As the mode amplitude increases, the reflectometry channel in the SOL can clearly capture the mode. This result suggests that the EM mode is excited in the pedestal gradient region and spreads into the SOL. It is further found that the particle flux deposition profile in the divertor is broadened as the EM mode appears.

Energy↗

DOE OSTI2025

Edge-localized mode mitigation enabled by active control of pedestal density gradient with new EAST tokamak divertor

Mitigation of large edge-localized modes (ELMs) has been achieved by actively reducing the pedestal density gradient with the EAST new right-angled lower divertor through changing the strike point position from the vertical target to the horizontal target. A series of dedicated experiments in the 2021–2024 EAST campaigns demonstrate that this ELM control solution is highly reproducible in a broad parameter space of edge safety factor q 95 = 4.7–7.1, heating power P total = 2.3–5 MW, and pedestal collisionality $ν_{e,ped}^{*}$ = 1–6, under both favorable and unfavorable magnetic configurations. Higher plasma density could facilitate the achievement of this ELM control solution. Statistical results indicate that the ELM mitigation effect can be observed at relatively larger Greenwald density fraction of f GW > 0.47. In addition, this ELM mitigation effect can be achieved with both lithium-coated and boronized metal walls. The pedestal density gradient is systematically lower in the horizontal target case than that of the vertical target case when the ELM mitigation effect can be observed. SOLPS-ITER simulation results indicate that the pedestal fueling from divertor recycling is significantly lower in the horizontal target case. This could contribute to the formation of a flattened pedestal density profile with small ELMs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

The impact of kinetic and global effects on ideal ballooning 2nd stable pedestals of conventional and low aspect-ratio tokamaks

The EPED model (Snyder et al 2011 Nucl. Fusion 51 103016) has had success in describing the pedestal structure of Type-I ELM and QH-mode plasmas in tokamaks, by combining kinetic ballooning mode (KBM) and peeling–ballooning (PB) constraints. Within EPED, the KBM constraint is often approximated by a technique using calculated ideal ballooning mode (IBM) thresholds, fit to a functional form designed to capture non-local effects. It has been noted that quantitative differences between local ideal MHD and gyro-kinetic (GK) ballooning stability can be larger at low aspect ratio. KBM critical pedestals are consistent with observations in initial studies on conventional and spherical tokamaks. In this work, the application of a reduced model for the calculation of the kinetic ballooning stability boundary is presented based on a novel and newly developed gyro-fluid system (GFS) code (Staebler et al 2023 Phys. Plasmas 30 102501). GFS is observed to capture KBMs in DIII-D as well as the NSTX pedestals, opening a route to integrating this model into EPED. Finally, high but finite $n$ global ballooning modes are observed to limit the access to the local 2nd stability and thus provide a transport mechanism that constrains the pedestal evolution with $β_{p,\textrm{ped}}$. The high $n$ global ballooning stability is approximated by its ideal MHD analog using ELITE. It is shown that nearly-local high $n$ modes with $k_yρ_s$ ~ $0.25 - 0.5$ can provide a proxy for the critical $β_{p,\textrm{ped}}$ when a 2nd stable access exists on DIII-D plasmas. The use of GFS and ELITE scaling in EPED provides improved agreement to EPED1 in an initial comparison with DIII-D pedestal data.

Anastopoulos Tzanis, Michail Savvas [Oak Ridge Nat↗

DOE OSTI2026

Understanding and Predicting Pedestal Scenarios on NSTX-U (Final Technical Report)

This project investigated gyrokinetic instabilities in the NSTX pedestal, identified the major transport mechanisms (some of them novel) in the NSTX pedestal, and developed and validated a predictive modeling capability for pedestal transport in spherical tokamaks, with particular emphasis on NSTX discharges. The work combined first-principles gyrokinetic simulations, reduced transport models, integrated transport calculations with ASTRA, and exploratory machine learning tools. The central outcome is a practical modeling capability for pedestal temperature profiles based on reduced models informed and constrained by gyrokinetic physics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Validation of the GFS model for gyrokinetic stability of NSTX pedestal data

This study presents a large database validation of the gyro fluid system (GFS) model for linear gyrokinetic stability for high-mode (H-mode) edge transport barrier conditions in the national spherical torus experiment (NSTX) tokamak. The database of linear stability calculations with the CGYRO gyrokinetic code was produced using plasma profile measurements from NSTX discharges to identify kinetic ballooning modes (KBM), trapped electron modes (TEM), and micro-tearing modes (MTM) that limit the pressure profile gradient in the H-mode barrier. A novel Bayesian optimization approach determines optimal resolution parameters for GFS specifically for spherical tokamak pedestal conditions. Our results demonstrate that GFS, with optimized resolution, can achieve accurate linear stability analysis in NSTX pedestal conditions for reduced resolution compared to CGYRO. GFS can accurately find the KBM, TEM, and MTM instability branches. Parametric analysis reveals that GFS accuracy in this extreme pedestal parameter range is degraded for low magnetic shear and near the separatrix conditions. These findings establish GFS as a fast linear eigenmode solver for spherical tokamak pedestal gyrokinetic stability and demonstrate a systematic methodology for determining the optimum resolution settings.

Yang, Minglei [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL↗

DOE OSTI2025

HIPED: Machine learning framework for spherical tokamak pedestal prediction and optimization

We introduce a Machine Learning framework, HIPED (HeIght and width Predictor for Edge Dynamics), for predicting and optimizing pedestal and core performance in spherical tokamak plasmas. Trained on pedestal and core datasets from the third MAST-U campaign, HIPED provides accurate estimates of pedestal height and width. The results reveal notable differences compared with conventional aspect-ratio studies; for instance, a simple power-law relation between pedestal width and height has very low accuracy. Instead, additional parameters such as normalized plasma pressure, elongation, and Greenwald fraction significantly improve accuracy. HIPED can also be trained only on `control room parameters' to inform experimentalists of which controllable parameters to adjust for improving core-integrated performance. The framework further includes a multi-objective optimization scheme that helps guide experimental planning and optimization. We find Pareto-optimal discharges with respect to various features, including distance from edge-localized modes and normalized plasma pressure, track their parameter trajectories over time, and identify the control room parameters required for these Pareto-optimal discharges. This provides a framework for systematically optimizing core and edge performance according to different experimental priorities.

Parisi, Jason F. [Princeton Plasma Physics Laborat↗

DOE OSTI2026

Modeling Temperature Profiles in the Pedestal of NSTX with Reduced Models

This paper describes new modeling capabilities for predicting H-mode pedestal profiles in spherical tokamaks. Temperature profiles for NSTX discharges 132543 and 132588 are modeled by coupling the \textsc{astra} transport solver with neoclassical transport and gyrokinetic-based reduced models for electron temperature gradient (ETG) and kinetic ballooning mode (KBM) instabilities. A quasi-linear surrogate model for ion-scale transport is developed using linear \textsc{gene} simulations, requiring only a single free parameter calibrated to one discharge. Time-evolving the temperatures with fixed density yields good agreement with experiments for both discharges. Systematic analysis of the transport mechanisms reveals that neoclassical transport is huge across the entire pedestal region for the ion channel. ETG turbulence is large in the plasma edge and low density gradient region, contributing substantially to the electron channel. However, KBM/MHD-like modes also drive significant transport in both the ion and electron thermal channels, making them essential for accurate pedestal modeling. Further refinements, including explicit E×B shear suppression and scaled ETG transport, produce quantitative but not qualitative improvements. This work lays the foundation for predictive modeling of future devices. This paper is on arxiv and has been submitted to Nuclear Fusion.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Effects beyond ideal MHD on stability of wide and enhanced pedestal regimes in NSTX

Stability of edge-localized modes (ELMs) in spherical tokamaks is explored using the extended MHD model. Linear NIMROD simulations have been performed for three NSTX discharges 132543, 132588, and 141133, to investigate the role of resistivity, diffusivity, and shear flows on the onset of ELMs. The first discharge represents the wide pedestal regime and the later two discharges represent ELM-free enhanced pedestal H-mode. We first present the effect of toroidal rotation shear and find a flow shear destabilizing effect in these NSTX discharges. Simulations are also extended to include the two-fluid and ion gyroviscosity effects. Simulations show that the flow shear can shift the mode spectrum and alter the critical condition of ELM onset. We also uncover that ELM onset prediction in spherical tokamaks requires effects beyond MHD, in particular gyroviscosity and diamagnetic terms could stabilize Peeling-Ballooning modes consistent with the experimental observation of ELM-free regimes in NSTX. The findings give new insight into the nature of the interplay between resistivity, flows, and diamagnetic stabilization in ELM suppression and have potential applications to ELM control schemes in NSTX-U and next-generation spherical tokamaks. This study identifies the essential physical effects that must be included in future predictive and validation simulations.

NSTX↗

DOE OSTI2024

Characterizing impurity sourcing and transport in the high temperature boundary of DIII-D wide pedestal QH-mode plasmas

Wide Pedestal QH-mode (WPQH) plasmas in the DIII-D tokamak show a sheath limited SOL, where electron density and temperature remain nearly constant along field lines from the midplane to the divertor. Consequently, parallel gradients are weak. The first Langmuir probe measurements in this regime point to a high sheath temperature with target electron temperature T e up to ~150 eV, leading to high carbon self-sputtering. Midplane carbon densities from SOLPS-ITER modeling of these plasmas in a double-null configuration fall far below experimental measurements unless full drifts are activated. In the drift-dependent SOLPS-ITER modeling, anomalous poloidally uniform, radially varying transport is adjusted to match measured radial electron temperature and density profiles in the pedestal and SOL region. The resulting carbon density (C6+) matches measured carbon densities just inside the separatrix. The C2+ density near the outer strike point is also consistent with spectroscopic imaging. With the ion B×∇B drift towards the X-point, carbon in the lower divertors is redistributed from the private flux region to the high field side (HFS) and pushed upstream in the SOL by poloidal E×B drifts. The B × ∇B drift dominates the radial flow of carbon as it moves upstream. Simulations with reversed toroidal field (ion B × ∇B drift away from the X-point) show a radically different behavior, where carbon accumulates on the low field side in lower divertors, and is pushed towards the HFS in the upper divertors, indicating a strong effect of particle drifts on impurity distribution. In double-null configurations which are usually used in WPQH plasmas, these drift effects tend to counterbalance, so that the carbon density and Z eff are reduced at the outer mid-plane only modestly, by around 7% in the modeling. Further predictive modeling indicates that the carbon density can be significantly reduced by an order of magnitude by implementing a single-null shape with reversed toroidal field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Role of Neutrals Versus Transport in Determining the Pedestal Density Structure: Final Technical Report

In fusion devices the plasma density plays a crucial role in determining the fusion reaction rate and has a direct impact on the fusion gain of a given device. This density is in general regulated by the particle sources and transport near the plasma edge, which give rise to an edge density pedestal. When predicting the performance of future devices, this density pedestal is often prescribed, rather than predicted, due to a lack of models which allow confident extrapolation. This project aims to advance these models through the focused validation of theoretical models related to the transport of fueling neutral particles, and through interpretive transport modeling in present day fusion plasmas, in which the penetration of neutrals is altered to better simulate future reactor-like conditions. Achievements in theory and model validation under this project have advanced our understanding of how much of the edge density profile is set by transport versus direct ionization, enabling interesting projections to future burning plasma devices.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗