Saturation levels of neoclassical tearing modes in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor plasmas

For the future ITER tokamak (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) plasmas [R. Aymar, Nucl. Fusion 41, 1301 (2001)] a simple and robust theoretical model for the prediction of the dynamics of neoclassical tearing modes (NTM) is a crucial topic. Presently, this theory is incomplete. Using full magnetohydrodynamic simulations, saturated NTM island widths significantly smaller than those predicted by any existing NTM theory are found. Nevertheless, these islands are sufficiently large to potentially alter the plasma confinement. Some reasons for the departure of the simulation results from the theoretical predictions are suggested and issues to be addressed to achieve a quantitative model are indicated.