Collection and Characterization of Particulate from the Tore Supra Tokamak (Dec. 1999 Vent)
Particulate generated during the operation of a fusion device contributes to the radiological source term associated with accident scenarios in the device.1,2 Understanding the mechanisms generating the particulate and correctly describing its physical and chemical behavior is essential for safety analyses of future fusion devices. Knowledge of these mechanisms is gained by collecting and characterizing particulate matter from operating fusion facilities. Tokamak dust, the particulate matter generated during the operation of a tokamak fusion device, was collected from Tore Supra in December 1999, during the initial phase of the scheduled shutdown for installation of advanced plasma facing components. Tore Supra, located at CEA Cadarache, France, is presently the third largest operating tokamak with the capability of long-pulse operation. Eighteen super-conducting coils produce the 4.5 T magnetic field inside a vessel 2.4 m in major radius and 1.2 m in minor radius. Limiter and divertor regimes of operation are possible. In the divertor regime, the circular magnetic configuration is ergodized by six outboard resonant divertor modules that are covered with 12 m2 of carbon fiber composite (CFC) tiles. In addition, some field lines are diverted to actively cooled neutralizing plates made of CuCrZr bars covered with B4C. In the limiter regime, the plasma leans on the actively cooled inboard first wall or on a set of inertially cooled pumped limiters. The first wall area of 12 m2 is covered with both polycrystalline graphite tiles (83%) and CFC tiles (17%). The single outboard limiter is constructed of pyrolitic graphite, and the four toroidally symmetric bottom limiters are constructed of CFC. Figure 1.1 displays the relative location of plasma facing components within the plasma chamber of Tore Supra. In this report, we present in Section 2 the methods used to collect and analyze this dust and describe the selection of sampling locations. Section 3 includes a discussion of observed particle morphology, results from optical microscopy particle size analysis, and results of particle size measurements performed with a laser diffraction analysis system. The results from specific surface area analyses are given in Section 4, and particle composition analyses by SEM/EDX are discussed in Section 5. A discussion of the results and the implications of the Tore Supra dust are given in Section 6. Conclusions of this current work are summarized in Section 7.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 911201
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/EXT-00-01619; TRN: US0704457
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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CARBON FIBERS
CEA CADARACHE
CHLOROFLUOROCARBONS
DIVERTORS
DUSTS
FIRST WALL
GRAPHITE
LASERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MORPHOLOGY
OPTICAL MICROSCOPY
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICULATES
PUMPED LIMITERS
SHUTDOWN
SOURCE TERMS
SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA
TORE SUPRA TOKAMAK
particulate
Tore Supra Tokamak