Present status of plasma-wall interactions research and materials development activities in the US

Technical Report · Tue Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5502489· OSTI ID:5502489

Hirooka, Y; Conn, R W

It is well known in the fusion engineering community that the plasma confinement performance in magnetic fusion devices is strongly affected by edge-plasma interactions with surface components. These plasma-material interactions (PMI) include fuel particle recycling and impurity generation both during normal and off-normal operation. To understand and then to control PMI effects, considerable effort has been made, particularly over the last decade in US, supported by Department of Energy, Division of Development and Technology. Also, because plasma-facing components are generally expected to receive significant amount of heat due to plasma bombardment and run-away electrons, materials must tolerate high-heat fluxes (HHF). The HHF-component research has been conducted in parallel with PMI research. One strong motivation for these research activities is that DT-burning experiments are currently planned in the Tokamak Test Fusion Reactor (TFTR) in early 1990s. Several different but mutually complementary approaches have been taken in the PMI+HHF research. The first approach is to conduct PMI experiments using toroidal fusion devices such as TFTR. The second one is to simulate elemental processes involved in PMI using ion beams and electron beams, etc. The last one but not least is to use non-tokamak plasma facilities. Along with these laboratory activities, new materials have been developed and evaluated from the PMI+HHF point of view. In this paper, several major PMI+HHF research facilities in US and their activities are briefly reviewed. 21 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs.

• Research Organization: California Univ., Los Angeles, CA (USA). Inst. of Plasma and Fusion Research
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: FG03-86ER52130
• OSTI ID: 5502489
• Report Number(s): UCLA/PPG-1252; ON: DE90000853
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700201* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Blanket Engineering
700209 -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Component Development & Materials Testing
BEAMS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
CARBON
CONFINEMENT
DEGASSING
ELECTRON BEAMS
ELEMENTAL MINERALS
ELEMENTS
FIRST WALL
GRAPHITE
HEAT FLUX
IMPURITIES
LAYERS
LEPTON BEAMS
MATERIALS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PLASMA SCRAPE-OFF LAYER
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
TFTR TOKAMAK
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR MATERIALS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR WALLS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
TOKAMAK TYPE REACTORS