  The Probability Distribution Function of plasma density fluctuations at the
edge of fusion devices is known to be skewed and strongly non-Gaussian. The
causes of this peculiar behaviour are, up to now, largely unexplored. On the
other hand, understanding the origin and the properties of edge turbulence is a
key issue in magnetic fusion research. In this work we show that a stochastic
fragmentation model, already successfully applied to fluid turbulence, is able
to predict an asymmetric distribution that closely matches experimental data.
The asymmetry is found to be a direct consequence of intermittency. A
discussion of our results in terms of recently suggested BHP universal curve
[S.T. Bramwell, P.C.W. Holdsworth, J.-F. Pinton, Nature (London) 396, 552
(1998)], that should hold for strongly correlated and critical systems, is also
proposed
