Gas-Puff-Imaging (GPI) is a two dimensional diagnostic which measures the edge Dα light emission from a neutral D2 gas puff nears the outer mid-plane of NSTX. DEGAS 2 is a 3-D Monte Carlo code used to model neutral transport and atomic physics in tokamak plasmas. In this paper we compare measurements of the Dα light emission obtained by GPI on NSTX with DEGAS 2 simulations of Dα light emission for specific experiments. Both the simulated spatial distribution and absolute intensity of the Dα light emission agree well with the experimental data obtained between ELMs in H-mode.

Developing a reactor compatible divertor has been identified as a particularly challenging technology problem for magnetic confinement fusion. While tungsten has been identified as the most attractive solid divertor material, the NSTX/NSTX-U lithium (Li) program is investigating the viability of liquid lithium (LL) as a potential reactor compatible divertor plasma facing component (PFC) . In the near term, operation in NSTX-U is projected to provide reactor-like divertor heat loads < 40 MW/m^2 for 5 s. During the most recent NSTX campaign, ~ 0.85 kg of Li was evaporated onto the NSTX PFCs where a ~50% reduction in heat load on the Liquid Lithium Divertor (LLD) was observed, attributable to enhanced divertor bolometric radiation. This reduced divertor heat flux through radiation observed in the NSTX LLD experiment is consistent with the results from other lithium experiments and calculations. These results motivate an LL-based closed radiative divertor concept proposed here for NSTX-U and fusion reactors. With an LL coating, the Li is evaporated from the divertor strike point surface due to the intense heat. The evaporated Li is readily ionized by the plasma due to its low ionization energies, and the ionized Li ions can radiate strongly, resulting in a significant reduction …