Design of a new experimental facility to reproduce LOVA and LOCA consequences on dust resuspension

Abstract

Dust resuspension inside the vacuum vessel is one of the key security issues of the new-generation tokamaks (such as ITER or DEMO). It is well known that a fusion device generates dusts due to plasma–surface interactions, which cause a significant erosion of plasma facing components. Consequently, operators will have to manage several hundreds of kilograms of beryllium and tungsten dusts inside the VV. According to the reference categories, two main accidental situations lead to dusts re-suspension: loss of vacuum accidents (LOVA – air flow due to a rupture of a penetration line) and loss of coolant accidents (LOCA – fluid flashing due to a rupture of a coolant system pipe). The authors have gained a strong experience in the field of dust resuspension by virtue of the studies on the STARDUST facility, whose limitations, however, prevent from completing further analysis. These are, in particular, a reduced field of view to track the dust with optical techniques, the impossibility to replicate a LOVA from the upper port as well as any kind of LOCA. To overcome these problems, the authors have designed several new layouts of the facility. Numerical simulations to test the mechanical resistance together with a deep analysis of advantages and limitations have been performed for each layout. The authors will present the proposals for the new facility, the numerical results of the simulations and a comparison between the layouts analyzed. A new experimental facility will be then described to reproduce dust re-suspension due to both LOVA and LOCA consequences.