Performance, heating and current drive scenarios of ASDEX Upgrade advancedtokamak discharges

Various approaches to high performance and steady state operation are prese nted. Strong neutral beam heating in the current ramp leads to internal tra nsport barriers (ITBs) in conjunction with negative central magnetic shear. To avoid the destabilization of external kink modes this regime is limited to L mode edge operation with beta (N) < 1.7. In high poloidal <beta>, bet a (p), discharges, full non-inductive current drive has been achieved trans iently. At Greenwald density. values of beta (p) = 3.1, beta (N) = 2.8 and HITER89-P = 1.8 have been reached simultaneously. In plasmas with ITBs and L mode edge, additional ECRH and ECCD facilitates high core confinement wit h T-e approximate to T-a. Central ECCD has been applied in low density low current discharges. For ECCD in the co-current direction a current drive fr action of 82% is calculated. In the case of counter-ECCD, negative central shear with q(min) > 1 leads to the formation of an electron ITB.