Ion cyclotron, electron cyclotron and lower hybrid heating and current drive in ITER

An auxiliary power of similar to 100 MW is required to heat ITER and to control the plasma burn as well as to drive a fraction of the plasma current for profile control and, ultimately, for steady state operation in high bootstrap fraction discharges. The auxiliary power could be shared among different healing methods, as there are advantages in using multiple systems to satisfy ITER operation requirements. A (negative ion) neutral beam injection (NBI) and two RF heating and current drive (H&CD) systems - ion cyclotron (ICRF) and electron cyclotron (ECRF) range of frequencies - are under conceptual development as co-ordinated by the ITER JCT, while a lower hybrid wave (LHW) system is being developed by the European Home Team. Together, these three radio frequency (RF) H&CD systems offer a range of features and services capable of fully satisfying all ITER requirements.