Comparison of detached and radiative divertor operation in Alcator C-Mod

The divertor of the Alcator C-Mod tokamak [Phys. Plasmas 1, 1511 (1994)] routinely radiates a large fraction of the power entering the scrape-off layer. This dissipative divertor operation occurs whether the divertor is detached or not, and large volumetric radiative emissivities, up to 60 MW m−3 in ion cyclotron range of frequency (ICRF) heated discharges, have been measured using bolometer arrays. An analysis of both Ohmic and ICRF-heated discharges has demonstrated some of the relative merits of detached divertor operation versus high-recycling divertor operation. An advantage of detached divertor operation is that the power flux to the divertor plates is decreased even further than its already low value. Some disadvantages are that volumetric losses outside the separatrix in the divertor region are decreased, the neutral compression ratio is decreased, and the penetration efficiency of impurities increases.