Development of an ITER prototype disruption mitigation valve

Abstract

Disruptions in tokamaks seem to be unavoidable. Consequences of disruptions are (i) high heat loads on plasma-facing components, (ii) large forces on the vacuum vessel, and (iii) the generation of runaway electron beams. In ITER, the thermal energy of the plasma needs to be evenly distributed on the first wall in order to prevent melting, forces from vertical displacement events have to be minimized, and the generation of runaway electrons suppressed. Massive gas injection using fast valves is a concept for disruption mitigation which is presently being explored in many tokamaks. Fast disruption mitigation valves based on an electromagnetic eddy current drive have been developed in Jülich since the 1990s and models of various sizes have been built and are in operation in the TEXTOR, MAST, and JET tokamaks. A disruption mitigation valve for ITER is of necessity larger with an estimated injected gas volume of ∼20kPam3[7] for runaway electron suppression and all materials used have to be resistant to much higher levels of neutron and gamma radiation than in existing tokamaks. During the last 5 years, the concept for an ITER prototype disruption mitigation valve has been developed up to the stage that a fully functional valve could be built and tested. Special emphasis was given to the development and functional testing of some critical items: (i) the injection chamber seal, (ii) the piston seal, (iii) the eddy current drive, and (iv) a braking mechanism to avoid too fast closure of the valve, which could damage the injection chamber seal. The concept of the valve will be introduced and detailed solutions and testing results for the critical items presented.