Plasma decontamination during ergodic divertor experiments in Tore Supra

This paper analyses the decontamination effect resulting from the creation of an ergodic boundary zone. Two plasma geometrical configurations (outboard and inboard) are studied, the plasma being limited respectively either, on the low field side (lfs), by an outboard limiter (3 to 5 cm ahead of the ED modules) or, on the high field side (hfs), by the graphite innerwall. Strong decontamination effects have already been reported for the first configuration by observing line emission of the intrinsic (carbon and oxygen) and purposely injected (nitrogen) impurities. When limited by the inner wall, the plasma is several centimetres farther from the ED modules than in the lfs configuration. The magnetic perturbation is then greatly reduced, and much smaller decontamination effects should be expected. In this paper, the hfs configuration data is compared with that from the lfs configuration. Preliminary experiments combining lower hybrid current drive and ED operation in the hfs configuration are also reported