Integrated self-consistent analysis of NSTX performance during normal operation and disruptions

Abstract A fundamental issue in tokamak operation related to power exhaust is the understanding of heat and particle transport from core plasma into scrape-off-layer (SOL) and to plasma facing materials during plasma instabilities. We enhanced our models and upgraded HEIGHTS package using adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) to fit reactor walls arbitrary geometry and study/implementing nanoscale surface processes. A five-layer quadtree refinement scheme is used for simulation of the entire SOL plasma evolution and the extra refinement mesh (∼0.5 μm) allowed detail calculations of subsurface particle implantation, divertor hydrodynamic evolution, and erosion processes. Using NSTX actual geometry and magnetic field structure we modeled in full 3D the evolution of escaped core plasma particles starting at core border, gyration and scatterings in SOL, and deposition into plasma facing components. The characteristics of the escaped particles determined the energy source and boundary conditions for edge plasma MHD evolution and the resulting damage.