Progress on Design and Development of ITER Equatorial Launcher: Analytical Investigation and R&D of the Launcher Components for the Design Improvement

Abstract

Progress on design of an International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) equatorial electron cyclotron launcher with analytical and research and development studies of the components is described. The modified design of the front shield module is proposed with electromagnetic and structure analysis. The analytical investigation of the modified steering mirror design shows that maximum temperature and stress intensity are 289°C and 336 MPa on the mirror surface (copper alloy) and the inner surface of the cooling tube (Type 316 stainless steel) in the mirror, respectively. Maximum stress intensity of the spiral tube to feed cooling water to the steering mirror is calculated to be 139 MPa. These values are less than the allowable level. High heat flux irradiation experiments of the mirror mock-up and fatigue tests of the spiral tube were carried out, and their results proved that the concept of the steering mirror structure was feasible. The results on neutron irradiation tests of the composing materials for an ultrasonic motor and the alternatives such as polyimide and liquid crystal polymer indicate that the motor with those materials is available for the ITER launcher. The remote maintenance scheme of the launcher, which corresponded one-to-one with the fabrication scenario, was also introduced. A “front-access scheme” and a “rear-access scheme” are considered, and their feasibilities are discussed.