Progress of ITER full tungsten divertor technology qualification in Japan

Abstract

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is in progress for technology qualification toward full-tungsten (W) ITER divertor outer vertical target (OVT), especially, tungsten monoblock technology that needs to withstand the repetitive heat load as high as 20MW/m2. To demonstrate the armor heat sink bonding technology and heat removal capability, 6 small-scale W monoblock mock-ups manufactured by different bonding technologies using different W materials in addition to 4 full-scale prototype plasma-facing units (PFUs). After non-destructive test, the W components were tested under high heat flux (HHF) in ITER Divertor Test Facility (IDTF) at NIIEFA. Consequently, all of the W monoblocks endured the repetitive heat load at 20MW/m2 for 1000 cycles (requirements 20MW/m2 for 300 cycles) without any failure. In addition to the armor to heat sink joints, the load carrying capability test on the W monoblock with a leg attachment was carried out. In uniaxial tensile test, all of the W monoblock attachments with different bonding technologies such as brazing and HIPping withstand the tensile load exceeding 20kN that is the value more than twice the design value. The failures occurred at the leg attachments or the W monoblocks, rather than the bonding interface of the W monoblocks to the leg attachment.