Sawtooth control in ITER using ion cyclotron resonance heating

Numerical modelling of the effects of ion cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) on the stability of the internal kink mode suggests that ICRH should be considered as an essential sawtooth control tool in ITER. Sawtooth control using ICRH is achieved by directly affecting the energy of the internal kink mode rather than through modification of the magnetic shear by driving localized currents. Consequently, ICRH can be seen as complementary to the planned electron cyclotron current drive actuator, and indeed will improve the efficacy of current drive schemes. Simulations of the ICRH distribution using independent RF codes give confidence in numerical predictions that the stabilizing influence of the fusion-born alphas can be negated by appropriately tailored minority He-3 ICRH heating in ITER. Finally, the effectiveness of all sawtooth actuators is shown to increase as the q = 1 surface moves towards the manetic axis, whilst the passive stabilization arising from the alpha and NBI particles decreases.