Ion Microbeam Analyses of Dust Particles and Codeposits from JET with the ITER-Like Wall

Generation of metal dust in the JET tokamak with the ITER-like wall (ILW) is a topic of vital interest to next-step fusion devices because of safety issues with plasma operation. Simultaneous Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) with a focused four MeV 3He microbeam was used to determine the composition of dust particles related to the JET operation with the ILW. The focus was on “Be-rich particles” collected from the deposition zone on the inner divertor tile. The particles found are composed of a mix of codeposited species up to 120 μm in size with a thickness of 30–40 μm. The main constituents are D from the fusion fuel, Be and W from the main plasma-facing components, and Ni and Cr from the Inconel grills of the antennas for auxiliary plasma heating. Elemental concentrations were estimated by iterative NRA-PIXE analysis. Two types of dust particles were found: (i) larger Be-rich particles with Be concentrations above 90 at% with a deuterium presence of up to 3.4 at% and containing Ni (1–3 at%), Cr (0.4–0.8 at%), W (0.2–0.9 at%), Fe (0.3–0.6 at%), and Cu and Ti in lower concentrations and (ii) small particles rich in Al and/or Si that were in some cases accompanied by other elements, such as Fe, Cu, or Ti or W and Mo

Data on erosion and hydrogen fuel retention in Beryllium plasma-facing materials

ITER will use beryllium as a plasma-facing material in the main chamber, covering a total surface area of about 620 m(2). Given the importance of beryllium erosion and co-deposition for tritium retention in ITER, significant efforts have been made to understand the behaviour of beryllium under fusion-relevant conditions with high particle and heat loads. This paper provides a comprehensive report on the state of knowledge of beryllium behaviour under fusion-relevant conditions: the erosion mechanisms and their consequences, beryllium migration in JET, fuel retention and dust generation. The paper reviews basic laboratory studies, advanced computer simulations and experience from laboratory plasma experiments in linear simulators of plasma-wall interactions and in controlled fusion devices using beryllium plasma-facing components. A critical assessment of analytical methods and simulation codes used in beryllium studies is given. The overall objective is to review the existing set of data with a broad literature survey and to identify gaps and research needs to broaden the database for ITER.Peer reviewe

SFM and STM topographic studies of carbon-based surfaces exposed to deuterium plasma

Godkänd; 1994; 20120626 (nils)</p

Overview of co-deposition and fuel inventory in castellated divertor structures at JET

The main focus of this work is fuel retention in plasma components of the JET water-cooled Mk-I divertors operated with small tiles, first with carbon fibre composite (CFC) and then with castellated beryllium. Until recently these have been the only large-scale structures of this type used in fusion experiments. Three issues regarding fuel retention and material migration are addressed: (i) accumulation in gaps separating tiles and in the grooves of castellation; (ii) comparison of deposition on carbon and beryllium; (iii) in-depth migration of deuterium into the bulk of CFC. The essential results are summarised as follows: (i) co-deposition occurs up to a few cm deep in the gaps between the Mk-I tiles; (ii) fuel inventory in the CFC tile gaps exceeds that on plasma-facing surfaces by up to a factor of 2; (iii) in gaps between the beryllium tiles from the inner divertor corner the fuel content reaches 30% of that on plasma-facing surfaces, whereas in the grooves of castellation in Be the fuel content is less than 3.0% of that found on the top surface; (iv) fuel inventory on the Be tiles is strongly associated with the carbon co-deposition; (v) the D content measured in the bulk (1.5 mm below the surface) on cleaved CFC tiles exceeds 1 x 10(15) cm(-2). Implications of these results for a next-step device are addressed and the transport mechanism into the gaps is briefly discussed. The results presented here suggest that in a machine with non-carbon walls in the main chamber (as foreseen for ITER) the material transport and subsequent fuel inventory in the castellation would be reduced.QC 2010111