A. Widdowson

Material migration patterns and overview of first surface analysis of the JET ITER-like wall

Following the first JET ITER-like wall operations a detailed in situ photographic survey of the main chamber and divertor was completed. In addition, a selection of tiles and passive diagnostics were removed from the vessel and made available for post mortem analysis. From the photographic survey and results from initial analysis, the first conclusions regarding erosion, deposition, fuel retention and material transport during divertor and limiter phases have been drawn. The rate of deposition on inner and outer base divertor tiles and remote divertor corners was more than an order of magnitude less than during the preceding carbon wall operations, as was the concomitant deuterium retention. There was however beryllium deposition at the top of the inner divertor. The net beryllium erosion rate from the mid-plane inner limiters was found to be higher than for the previous carbon wall campaign although further analysis is required to determine the overall material balance due to erosion and re-deposition.

Beryllium Migration in JET ITER-like Wall Plasmas

JET is used as a test bed for ITER, to investigate beryllium migration which connects the lifetime of first-wall components under erosion with tokamak safety, in relation to long-term fuel retention. The (i) limiter and the (ii) divertor configurations have been studied in JET-ILW (JET with a Be first wall and W divertor), and compared with those for the former JET-C (JET with carbon-based plasma-facing components (PFCs)). (i) For the limiter configuration, the Be gross erosion at the contact point was determined in situ by spectroscopy as between 4% (Ein = 35 eV) and more than 100%, caused by Be self-sputtering (Ein = 200 eV). Chemically assisted physical sputtering via BeD release has been identified to contribute to the effective Be sputtering yield, i.e. at Ein = 75 eV, erosion was enhanced by about 1/3 with respect to the bare physical sputtering case. An effective gross yield of 10% is on average representative for limiter plasma conditions, whereas a factor of 2 difference between the gross erosion and net erosion, determined by post-mortem analysis, was found. The primary impurity source in the limiter configuration in JET-ILW is only 25% higher (in weight) than that for the JET-C case. The main fraction of eroded Be stays within the main chamber. (ii) For the divertor configuration, neutral Be and BeD from physically and chemically assisted physical sputtering by charge exchange neutrals and residual ion flux at the recessed wall enter the plasma, ionize and are transported by scrape-off layer flows towards the inner divertor where significant net deposition takes place. The amount of Be eroded at the first wall (21 g) and the Be amount deposited in the inner divertor (28 g) are in fair agreement, though the balancing is as yet incomplete due to the limited analysis of PFCs. The primary impurity source in the JET-ILW is a factor of 5.3 less in comparison with that for JET-C, resulting in lower divertor material deposition, by more than one order of magnitude. Within the divertor, Be performs far fewer re-erosion and transport steps than C due to an energetic threshold for Be sputtering, and inhibits as a result of this the transport to the divertor floor and the pump duct entrance. The target plates in the JET-ILW inner divertor represent at the strike line a permanent net erosion zone, in contrast to the net deposition zone in JET-C with thick carbon deposits on the CFC (carbon-fibre composite) plates. The Be migration identified is consistent with the observed low long-term fuel retention and dust production with the JET-ILW.

Erosion and deposition in the JET divertor during the first ILW campaign

Erosion and deposition were studied in the JET divertor during the first JET ITER-like wall campaign 2011 to 2012 using marker tiles. An almost complete poloidal section consisting of tiles 0, 1, 3 ...

Surface analysis of tiles and samples exposed to the first JET campaigns with the ITER-like wall

This paper reports on the first post-mortem analyses of tiles removed from JET after the first campaigns with the ITER-like wall (ILW) during 2011?12?[1]. Tiles from the divertor have been analysed by ion beam analysis techniques and by secondary ion mass spectrometry to determine the amount of beryllium deposition and deuterium retention in the tiles exposed to the scrape-off layer. Films 10?20??m thick were present at the top of tile 1, but only very thin films (<?1??m) were found in the shadowed areas and on other divertor tiles. The total amount of Be found in the divertor following the ILW campaign was a factor of ???9 less than the material deposited in the 2007?09 carbon campaign, after allowing for the longer operations in 2007?09.

Long-term fuel retention in JET ITER-like wall

Post-mortem studies with ion beam analysis, thermal desorption, and secondary ion mass spectrometry have been applied for investigating the long-term fuel retention in the JET ITERlike wall components. The retention takes place via implantation and co-deposition, and the highest retention values were found to correlate with the thickness of the deposited impurity layers. From the total amount of retained D fuel over half was detected in the divertor region. The majority of the retained D is on the top surface of the inner divertor, whereas the least retention was measured in the main chamber on the mid-plane of the inner wall limiter. The recessed areas of the inner wall showed significant contribution to the main chamber total retention. Thermal desorption spectroscopy analysis revealed the energetic T from DD reactions being implanted in the divertor. The total T inventory was assessed to be >0.3 mg.

First dust study in JET with the ITER-like wall: sampling, analysis and classification

Results of the first dust survey in JET with the ITER-Like Wall (JET-ILW) are presented. The sampling was performed using adhesive stickers from the divertor tiles where the greatest material depos ...

Deep deuterium retention and Be/W mixing at tungsten coated surfaces in the JET divertor

Surface samples from a full poloidal set of divertor tiles exposed in JET through operations 2010-2012 with ITER-like wall have been investigated using SEM, SIMS, ICP-AES analysis and micro beam nu ...

Deuterium trapping and release in JET ITER-like wall divertor tiles

A selected set of samples from JET-ILW divertor tiles exposed in 2011-2012 has been analysed using thermal desorption spectrometry (TDS). The highest amount of deuterium was found on the regions wi ...

ERO modelling of local deposition of injected C-13 tracer at the outer divertor of JET

The 2004 tracer experiment of JET with the injection of (CH4)-C-13 into H-mode plasma at the outer divertor has been modelled with the Monte Carlo impurity transport code ERO. EDGE2D solutions for inter-ELM and ELM-peak phases were used as plasma backgrounds. Local two-dimensional (2D) deposition patterns at the vertical outer divertor target plate were obtained for comparison with post-mortem surface analyses. ERO also provides emission profiles for comparison with radially resolved spectroscopic measurements. Modelling indicates that enhanced re-erosion of deposited carbon layers is essential in explaining the amount of local deposition. Assuming negligible effective sticking of hydrocarbons, the measured local deposition of 20-34% is reproduced if re-erosion of deposits is enhanced by a factor of 2.5-7 compared to graphite erosion. If deposits are treated like the substrate, the modelled deposition is 55%. Deposition measurements at the shadowed area around injectors can be well explained by assuming negligible re-erosion but similar sticking behaviour there as on plasma-wetted surfaces.

Melt damage to the JET ITER-like Wall and divertor

In October 2014, JET completed a scoping study involving high power scenario development in preparation for DT along with other experiments critical for ITER. These experiments have involved intentional and unintentional melt damage both to bulk beryllium main chamber tiles and to divertor tiles. This paper provides an overview of the findings of concern for machine protection in JET and ITER, illustrating each case with high resolution images taken by remote handling or after removal from the machine. The bulk beryllium upper dump plate tiles and some other protection tiles have been repeatedly flash melted by what we believe to be mainly fast unmitigated disruptions. The flash melting produced in this way is seen at all toroidal locations and the melt layer is driven by j × B forces radially outward and upwards against gravity. In contrast, the melt pools caused while attempting to use MGI to mitigate deliberately generated runaway electron beams are localized to several limiters and the ejected material appears less influenced by j × B forces and shows signs of boiling. In the divertor, transient melting of bulk tungsten by ELMs was studied in support of the ITER divertor material decision using a specially prepared divertor module containing an exposed edge. Removal of the module from the machine in 2015 has provided improved imaging of the melt and this confirms that the melt layers are driven by ELMs. No other melt damage to the other 9215 bulk tungsten lamellas has yet been observed.