Progress in pedestal and edge physics: Chapter 3 of the special issue: on the path to tokamak burning plasma operation
Abstract This paper describes the extensive progress that has been made in the understanding of tokamak pedestal physics since the 2007 publication of ‘Progress in the ITER Physics Basis’ (Ikeda 2007 Nucl. Fusion 47 E01–S500). It serves as Chapter 3 of the 2025 Nuclear Fusion Special Issue titled ‘On the Path to Tokamak Burning Plasma Operation’ (Campbell et al 2025 Nucl. Fusion ). This review was compiled by the pedestal and edge physics (PEP) community affiliated with the International Tokamak Physics Activity organization. It attempts to collect in one place citations to the majority of published literature on the pedestal physics topics that will be most important for the operation of a future power producing burning plasma tokamak. These include citations to publications describing the physics of the pedestal plasmas in many operating tokamaks worldwide and the pedestal physics projections for several near-term future devices including ITER. Descriptions of experimental results, interpretive modeling and predictive extrapolations are integrated together and comprehensive references are provided. This review is organized around four primary technical sections, viz.: pedestal structure, edge localized mode (ELM) characteristics, ELM control and regimes without large ELMs. Key results from many of the references are described briefly and set into the tokamak burning plasma power plant context. In addition, different perspectives on pedestal physics topics that are currently under debate within the community are also described, to provide guidance on needs for future research. Finally, attempts are made to describe conclusions from all of this progress consistent with discussions by the pedestal physics community at this time. The goal of this review is to provide a useful reference document for pedestal physics researchers going forward toward operation of a burning tokamak fusion plasma.
Authors
- A. Wingen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8855-1349)
- T. Happel
- M. Dunne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5259-9970)
- H. Urano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8740-8954)
- R. Lunsford (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3588-6801)
- W. Suttrop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0983-8881)
- J. W. Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4802-4944)
- M. Hoelzl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7921-9176)
- P.B. Snyder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0613-4232)
- A. Diallo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0706-060X)
- M. Bécoulet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2721-2890)
- E. Wolfrum (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6645-6882)
- A. Nelson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9612-1936)
- A. Cathey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7693-5556)
- E. de la Luna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5420-0126)
- A. Kirk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5746-6595)
- K.H. Burrell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2639-1228)
- C. Paz-Soldan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5069-4934)
- L. Gil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9970-2154)
- P. T. Lang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1586-8518)
- E. Viezzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6419-6848)
- B. Vanovac (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4031-9318)
- B. Labit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0751-8182)
- X. Q. Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1838-9790)
- F. M. Laggner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1601-2973)
- G.Y. Park
- S. Saarelma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6838-2194)
- S. Futatani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5742-5454)
- Seong Ha Kim
- M.E. Fenstermacher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5635-7330)
- Richard J. Groebner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5643-564X)
- R.S. Wilcox (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1369-1739)
- U. Sheikh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6207-2489)
- Jacob King (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6325-8899)
- T.H. Osborne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2641-4597)
- Ze Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5208-8908)
- Xi Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8718-6877)
- Tao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1555-6226)
- L. R. Baylor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0325-7771)
- G.T.A. Huijsmans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1435-4892)
- L. Frassinetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9546-4494)
- Rajesh Maingi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1238-8121)
- Yueqiang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8192-8411)
Institutions
- ITER (FR)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (US)
- North Carolina State University (US)
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (US)
- Culham Centre for Fusion Energy (GB)
- Luxun Academy of Fine Arts (CN)
- Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KR)
- CEA Cadarache (FR)
- National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (JP)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (DE)
- Lux Research (United States) (US)
- Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (ES)
- United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (GB)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- General Atomics (United States) (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nuclear Fusion
- Published
- 2025-04-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/adb1f3
- Citations
- 10
- Primary Topic
- Magnetic confinement fusion research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 18.70