Stationarity of I-mode operation and I-mode divertor heat fluxes on the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak

International audienceRecent I-mode investigations from the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak are reported. It is shown that neutral-beam-injection heated I-modes can be stationary, which is important in terms of extrapolability towards future fusion devices. Furthermore, detailed studies on the weakly coherent mode are reported. In particular, experimental observations point towards its existence in L-mode, before I-mode starts. Moreover, its impact on density and temperature fluctuations is evaluated. Studies of stationary divertor heat fluxes show that in I-mode, the upstream power fall-off length is between those observed in L-mode and H-mode, and it is connected to the scrape-off layer temperature fall-off length. Moreover, analysis of transient divertor heat loads shows that intermittent turbulent events, observed in the confinement region and linked to the weakly coherent mode, are responsible for a significant part of divertor heat loads