The characteristics of the toroidal ion temperature gradient (ITG) instability, considered as the main source of anomalous transport in the low (L) confinement mode of tokamaks, are analysed for the conditions of the radiatively improved (RI) mode triggered by seeding of impurities. Based on experimental profiles from TEXTOR-94 we deduce that the ITG-induced turbulence is quenched in the RI-mode in a large part of the plasma radius. Under those conditions the dissipative trapped electron (DTE) instability dominates the transport. The peaking of the electron density, one of the most remarkable features of the L-RI transition, is explained by the difference in contributions of ITG and DTE unstable modes to the diffusive and convective components of the electron flow. The shearing of the plasma toroidal velocity observed in the RI-modes with unbalanced neutral injection is successfully modelled by taking into account both the anomalous plasma viscosity due to ITG-turbulence and predictions of the revisited neoclassical theory.
Self-sustained turbulence and L-mode confinement in toroidal plasmas. I