ITER ITA NEWSLETTER
No. 14, MARCH 2004

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, AUSTRIAISSN 1727–9852

ITER UPDATE
Information from the Editor
Following up the meeting of delegations on 21 February 2004, a meeting of technical experts took place inVienna on 12–13 March aiming to reach a joint appreciation in common terms on key topics related to thesiting of ITER construction. There is no formal published outcome for this meeting, but an informal internalsummary indicated that:— The presentations, which included much new material, were helpful to furthering the process ofunderstanding.
— Similarly, the discussions between the two site proponents and involving the non-site proponents also
illuminated the various issues on the table.
— This meeting brought to an end the joint technical discussions that have been supporting the site decision
process.
— There was also a general appreciation for the great effort made by both sets of site advocates and for thehelpful role of the IT leaders at this intense meeting.
— Finally, there was a difference of view among the delegations on the nature of the outcome of this two-daytechnical meeting. Some delegations had the expectation that there would be discussions on each of thenine topics addressing an agreed set of ‘common terms’ with sufficient detail that each delegation could
make its own judgement about the factors at the two sites. Those delegations found the outcome to meettheir expectations. Some other delegations had the expectation that a report would be developed
appreciating jointly in common terms the two sites on each of the nine points, leaving to each proponent
the right to formulate appreciations on its own proposal. These delegations regretted the lack of a written
outcome of the meeting.
Meanwhile the participants in ITER negotiations, in particular Japan and Europe, are continuing discussions
with a view to reaching a conclusion on the choice of the ITER site.

INITIAL MEETINGS OF THE RE-ESTABLISHED TEST BLANKET WORKING GROUP
by Dr. L. Giancarli, Chairman, ITER Test Blanket Working GroupThe ITER Test Blanket Working Group (TBWG) was first established in 1995. Its activities covered successively the final part of the ITER EDA and the extension period, the main results being a preliminary assessment of the breeding blanket testing capabilities of ITER and a proposal of a coherent test blanket
programme, reported in 2001, that optimized the sharing of the three available testing ports between the threeParties present in 2001 (EU, JA and RF) taking into account the different coolant characteristics.
The TBWG was re-established by the ITER Interim Project Leader in September 2003, with the support of theParticipant Team Leaders. It is now comprised of four members from the ITER International Team and up tothree members from each of the six ITER Participant Teams. The International Team delegation is led by
Dr. V. Chuyanov, who has also been appointed as TBWG Co-Chair, while the six Participant Team delegations
are led by Prof. M. Abdou (US), Dr. M. Akiba (JA), Dr. A. Cardella (EU), Dr. B.G. Hong (KO), Dr. C. Pan (CN)and Dr. Y. Strebkov (RF).

The revised TBWG charter defines the four missions of the activities: i) provide the Design Description
Document (DDD) of the Test Blanket Module (TBM) systems proposed by the participants, including thedescription of the interfaces with the main ITER machine, ii) promote cooperation among participants on theassociated R&D programmes, iii) verify the integration of TBM testing in ITER site safety and environmental
evaluations, and finally, iv) develop and propose coordinated TBM test programmes taking into account ITER
operation planning. TBMs have to be representative of the breeding blanket for DEMO (the next reactor afterITER), capable of ensuring tritium-breeding self-sufficiency and of accommodating high-grade coolants forelectricity production.
Two meetings have been held so far by the new group: TBWG-11, held at the ITER-JWS Garching on 22–24
October 2003, and TBWG-12, held at the ITER-JWS Naka on 10–11 March 2004. Besides the TBWG
members, several other experts also participated in the meetings.
Three equatorial ports are still available in ITER for TBM testing but have now to be shared between the six
potential Parties. Significant collaboration and programme integration between Parties has now become anecessary condition for a successful testing programme. The first meeting was mainly devoted to the re-evaluation of the ITER parameters available for testing, to the presentation of the breeding-blanket-related R&D
activities performed and/or planned by the Parties, and to the identification of the blanket lines expected to betested in ITER.
During the D-T phase (inductive operation), typical operating conditions for TBMs include a surface heat fluxof 0.27 MW/m2, a neutron wall load of 0.78 MW/m2, with a pulse length of 400 s and a duty cycle of 25%. In
the meeting, it was concluded that these conditions allow significant TBM tests which are unique and essential
on the way to breeding blanket development. TBMs will be associated with relevant cooling and detritiation
systems, which will allow the demonstration of blanket functionality in a real fusion environment. Other main
testing objectives are the validation of theoretical predictions on the blanket performance by using specificinstrumentation and appropriate “act-alike” TBM designs. “Act-alike” TBMs are necessary in order to take into
account the relatively limited test operating parameters compared with the expected DEMO operating parameters. The low neutron fluence in ITER will not permit testing of long term irradiation effects on materials; onthe other hand, it is recommended to install TBMs from the beginning of the initial H phase because valuable
results on safety and TBM system operations could already be obtained at that time.
The R&D activities carried out in the past decades by the ITER Parties have led to the selection of five blanket
lines to be tested in the first ten years of ITER operations: 1) He-cooled ceramic/Be blankets using ferriticmartensitic steel (FMS) structures, pebble-beds of Li-based ceramics and pebble-beds of porous Be, 2) Hecooled or dual-coolant (He) liquid eutectic Li-Pb blankets with FMS structures, 3) water-cooled pebble-bed
ceramic/Be blankets with FMS structures, 4) self-cooled Li blankets with V-alloy structures, and 5) self-cooled
or dual-coolant (He) molten salt blankets using FMS structures. More advanced blankets using, for instance,
SiC/SiC structures, could be envisaged at a later stage if the ongoing long term R&D is successful.
Five Working Sub-Groups (WSGs), corresponding to the five blanket lines given above, have been established in order to evaluate the status of the design and R&D activities for each line, to propose a development
strategy to be performed by each interested Party, and to define an appropriate testing programme able todemonstrate the eligibility of each line to be used as breeding blanket in DEMO. One of the most important
objectives for the WSGs is to evaluate the requirements in terms of space and time for each testing
programme in order to reach an agreement between the Parties on the provisional sharing of the use of thethree testing ports. The nominated WSG leaders are L. Boccaccini (EU), Y. Poitevin (EU), M. Enoeda (JA), I.
Kirillov (RF) and D.K. Sze (US). Each interested Party has nominated its representatives in each WSG.
The second meeting was mainly devoted to the presentation and the discussion of the preliminary proposals
by each WSG. For each blanket line, the proposed strategy is to test a series of “act-alike” TBMs, using
DEMO-relevant technology, for addressing separately individual effects and to facilitate the interpretation ofresults, with a final global “look-alike” TBM for functional demonstration. For some blanket lines, several
Parties are proposing their own design, which leads to independent testing programme proposals. Forinstance, in WSG1 (He-cooled ceramic/Be blankets), EU, JA and RF intend to test their own designs, CN has
yet to complete the assessment, while KO and US want to give substantial support to the other Parties’
proposals.

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Of course, all the proposals have a strong impact on the definition of the sharing of the testing port allocation.
No agreement has yet been possible, although some main principles have been accepted. It is foreseen totest He-cooled ceramic/Be blankets in the first port, water-cooled ceramic/Be blankets and He-cooled (and/ordual-coolant) Li-Pb blankets in the second, and Li/V blankets, molten salt blankets and other He-cooled
blankets in the third. The definition of port allocation is extremely important to define all necessary connectionlines with the other parts of the ITER buildings. More flexibility is obviously allowed for all the TBM systems
which can be fully accommodated in the port cell and cask. An agreed provisional decision on test port allocation is expected at the next TBWG meeting, which is scheduled for July 2004.
The outcome of the discussions has clearly shown that WSGs are an effective instrument for exchanging
information from the Parties, for identifying common interests and generating ideas for collaboration. TheParties now have available the information to identify partners for any given R&D issue and to collaborate
either bilaterally or under more general international agreements.
During the March meeting, the question of the definition of DEMO was also addressed. This definition
depends on the Parties’ strategy for the development of fusion power as an energy source. Despite somedifferences mainly related with time schedule aspects, a minimum set of DEMO specifications, directly
affecting the requirements for breeding blankets and thus for the TBMs, has been agreed. The most severe
ones are: i) the need for tritium-breeding self-sufficiency, ii) the achievement of a reasonable thermal efficiency compared with other sources, iii) the use of low activation materials, and iv) blanket availability greaterthan 50%.
In conclusion, these first two TBWG meetings have shown that the testing programme in ITER can giveconsiderable benefits to the breeding blanket R&D. The coordination of the testing activities proposed by thevarious Parties and the interest expressed by the Parties in collaborating on the most critical R&D items foreach blanket line offer a good perspective for the breeding blanket development of DEMO.
TBWG Members: M. Abdou (US), M. Akiba (JA),
L.V. Boccaccini (EU), A. Cardella (EU), S.Y. Cho(KO), V. Chuyanov (ITER), M. Enoeda (JA), K. Feng(CN), L. Giancarli (EU), R. Haange (ITER),
B.G. Hong (KO), K. Ioki (ITER), M. Iseli (ITER),
I.G. Kirillov (RF), C. Pan (CN), G. Shatalov (RF),Y. Strebkov (RF), D.K. Sze (US), S. Tanaka (JA),M. Ulrickson (US), Y.C. Wu (CN). TBWG Secretary:
S. Hermsmayer (EU).

TWENTIETH IAEA FUSION ENERGYCONFERENCE
1–6 November 2004, Vilamoura, Portugal
Recognizing the increasingly prominent role thatenergy plays in the world and the expectation that
nuclear fusion can provide an abundant energy
source, the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) supports the exchange of scientific andtechnical information on fusion research throughconferences, meetings and projects. The 20thIAEA Fusion Energy Conference (FEC 2004)
provides a forum for elaborating the excellent
progress that is being made in fusion experiments,
theory and technological developments. FEC 2004
will be organized in cooperation with the Centro deFusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon,Portugal. It will take place during 1–6 November in3

Vilamoura, on Portugal’s south coast, facing one of the largest deuterium reservoirs of the world: the AtlanticOcean.
This is a special year, in which the scientific community is anxiously awaiting a decision on the ITER site. No
doubt exists that a huge effort and long term commitment have been necessary to bring us to where we aretoday — ready to initiate ITER construction. FEC 2004 will be a great opportunity to look at the work done
and to prepare for future challenges.
International commitment will play a fundamental role in fusion activities during the ITER era. Challenging
organizational structures have to be implemented in order to derive the maximum effectiveness from the joint
scientific effort devoted to ITER, the world’s largest international fusion project. Colloquiums like the IAEA
Fusion Energy Conference create the necessary atmosphere for all participants to exchange views and ideasthat might very well be the background for further achievements in the quest for a clean and endless energy
source for peaceful applications.
FEC 2004 will cover the following topics:— Overviews— Magnetic Confinement Experiments— Magnetic Confinement Theory and Modelling— ITER Activities— Inertial Fusion Experiments and Theory— Innovative Concepts— Fusion Technology and Power Plant Design— Safety, Environmental and Economic Aspects of Fusion
At the same time, a series of satellite meetings and fusion related exhibitions will take place.
For more information please visit the conference web site:
http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/Announcements.asp?ConfID=116

Printed by the IAEA in Austria
April 2004

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Items to be considered for inclusion in the ITER ITA Newsletter should be submitted to C. Basaldella, ITER Office, IAEA,Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, or Facsimile: +43 1 2633832, or e-mail: c.basaldella@iaea.org(phone +43 1 260026392).