Abstract. The stability of current-driven external-kink modes is investigated in a tokamak plasma surrounded by an external shell of finite electrical conductivity. According to conventional theory, the ideal mode can be stabilized by placing the shell sufficiently close to the plasma, but the non-rotating `resistive shell mode`, which grows as the characteristic L/R time of the shell, always persists. It is demonstrated, using both analytic and numerical techniques, that a combination of strong edge plasma rotation and dissipation somewhere inside the plasma is capable of stabilizing the resistive shell mode. This stabilization mechanism is similar to that found recently by Bondeson and Ward (1994), except that it does not necessarily depend on toroidicity, plasma compressibility or the presence of resonant surfaces inside the plasma. The general requirements for the stabilization of the resistive shell mode are elucidated

Print publication: Issue 1 (January 1996)