Engineering solutions for components facing the plasma in experimental fusion power reactors

An analysis is made of the engineering problems related to the structures facing the plasma in experimental tokamak-type reactors. Attention is focused on the so-called “current first wall”, i.e. the wall side of the blanket segments facing the plasma, and on the collector plates of the impurity control system. The design of a first wall, developed at the JRC-Ispra for INTOR/NET and based on the idea of conceiving it as one of the sides of a box which envelopes a blanket segment, is described. The progress in the structural analysis of the first wall box under operating and abnormal (plasma disruption) conditions is presented and discussed. The design of the collector plates of the single-null divertor of INTOR/NET, as developed at the JRC-Ispra, is described. This design is based on a W-Re protective layer and a water-cooled heat sink, including cooling channels in Cu-alloys and a Cu-matrix for bonding. The results of the elastic and elasto-plastic evaluations are discussed, together with a layout of the experimental activity in progress. It is concluded that, even if the uncertainties related to the plasma-wall interaction are still relevant, the engineering solutions identified look manageable, although they require a large research and development effort.