Demonstration of ITER relevant LHCD operation: large distance coupling in JET and long pulse operation in Tore Supra

Lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) is one of the most efficient methods for off-axis non-inductive current drive in tokamaks and is therefore used for shaping the plasma current profile in advanced tokamak scenarios. Its usefulness has been demonstrated in the advanced scenario experiments in JET, but the question has remained about the possibility of coupling lower hybrid (LH) waves in ITER. This paper reports on recent results obtained in JET and Tore-Supra, that both demonstrate operation of LHCD systems in ITER relevant regimes: -) LH coupling on ELMs (edge localized mode) plasmas up to 11 cm distance between the launcher and the separatrix in JET, and -) steady state, full non-inductive LHCD operation during 6 minutes in Tore Supra. The foreseen upgrade of the Tore Supra LHCD system will allow the extension of operating domain to higher power and higher performance, and will demonstrate the long pulse and coupling capability of a passive multijunction (PAM) launcher, as foreseen for ITER.