On the asymmetry of ripple induced losses in ICRF heated Tore Supra discharges

Toroidal asymmetries in the measured ripple losses during ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) heating have been observed on the Tore Supra tokamak. Such asymmetries have been detected in plasmas heated by low levels of ICRF power. In contrast, the ripple losses appear to be almost symmetrical (more precisely periodically symmetric) during high power ICRF heating. A theoretical analysis of the losses indicates that asymmetries can arise because a larger fraction of the ICRF power is absorbed in the ripple well region during low power ICRF heating.