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Some of the main technological challenges for the operation of ITER are related to plasma-material interaction (related to first wall materials, limiters, or divertors) and the study of these issues is surely among the key measures of success of the project. Moreover, their impact on the design of DEMO is considerable, and these topics could be a limiting factor for the nuclear fusion development as a new feasible and competitive energy.
Inside a fusion reactor, some materials will not be subjected only to radiation, but also to enormous heat loads in the case of plasma disruptions. In view of this, both: i) stationary conditions due to the intrinsic reactor properties: high density, low temperature and high power and ii) violent transient events (called ELMs in plasma physics literature) must be reproduced.
Therefore, the Plasma-wall Interaction Area will have a device called PALOMA (Plasma Ablation and LOading of MAterials) in order to study plasma-material interactions simultaneously in steady state and transient regimes, thereby allowing an analysis of the modification of the materials and their properties in fusion reactors.
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Research areas:
