JET has conducted extensive experiments in H-mode plasmas focusing on
two broad aims. The first, involving the characterization of reactor-r
elevant aspects of the regime, encompasses the study of steady-state H
-modes at plasma currents of up to 6 MA. In these plasmas, energy conf
inement is typically a factor of 1.8-2 greater than predicted by L-mod
e scalings and local transport varies with the ion Larmor;radius, at l
east for input powers well above the II-mode threshold power. Using ni
trogen impurity seeding, it regime has been developed in which good co
re confinement, with an enhancement of 1.5 relative to L-mode scaling,
is combined with radiated power fractions of up to 80%. The second ma
jor goal is to optimize fusion power production by exploiting high-con
finement ELM-free H-modes, which exhibit energy confinement enhancemen
t factors of three or more relative to L-mode plasmas. In this regime,
fusion power quotients Q(DT) similar to 1 have been achieved, though
the highest fusion performance is transient.