ITER CTA NEWSLETTER
No. 7, APRIL 2002

INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, VIENNA, AUSTRIAISSN 1683–0555

MEETING OF THE ITER CTA PROJECT BOARDby Dr. V. Vlasenkov, PB Secretary
The latest meeting of the ITER CTA Project Board took place in Moscow, Russian Federation on 22 April 2002
on the occasion of the Third Negotiators Meeting (N3). Thirteen participants, representing PB Members andexperts from Canada (CA), the European Union (EU), Japan (JA), the Russian Federation (RF) and theInternational Team (IT) attended the meeting chaired by Acad. E. Velikhov.
The Project Board took note of the comments made concerning the status of the Participant Teams (PTs) asfollows:·CA PT reported the establishment of a new company, Iter Canada Host Inc. to deliver the host scope ofsupply, as described in the CA offer to host ITER. Iter Canada Host Inc., has established contracts withfive companies for engineering support that will form the CA PT. The Canadian Regulator, CNSC, hasapproved the scope of the Environmental Assessment (EA), and work is progressing. The Regulator
indicated that the least stringent level of EA, the screening level, is satisfactory, reflecting positively on
ITER's safety and viability.

Participants in the Meeting

· JA PT is waiting for a Government decision on a candidate site for ITER. The preferred procurement
allocation is being reviewed by the industry. Discussions on the licensing process are ongoing with theregulatory authority.
· EU PT commented that the design and R&D activities foreseen for the year 2002 are progressing. TheEFDA work programme for 2003 and the work plan until the end of 2004 have been approved,guaranteeing support for ITER design and R&D activities.
· RF PT is working in accordance to the federal programme (2002 - 2005) which is oriented towards thepreparation of the RF industries for the construction of ITER. RF Minatom, and some companies, havemade the investment necessary in order to reach a production of superconducting strands of up to 50
tonnes/year. A list of design tasks is under discussion with the IT and will be formulated soon.
The IT Leader reported that the IT supported and reviewed the first official safety documents submitted to theRegulators in Canada and France. Feedback is expected before the end of the year. The IT initiated coordinated technical work in the area of the high priority procurement specifications, including the rules to write
them. The IT has devoted effort in the areas of the Vacuum Vessel and Magnet towards the assessment of
their design and improvements of some of their details.
All PTs and the IT analysed the most recent results in magnet testing which do not provide a fullunderstanding of the margins in performance of the superconductor. More testing will be appropriate in theSULTAN (EU) facility.
The IT Leader introduced his input paper to the N3 on some technical criteria for the definition of the noncommon area of the procurement. The PB agreed on the principles shown in this document, recognizing thatsome details of the non-common scope require further discussion with respect to each site offer.
The PB recognized the need to address some difficulties identified in co-ordinating the tentative preferencesof the Participants, during NSSG-2, for procurement allocation, such as over- or undersubscription of someprocurement packages.
The PB confirmed the need for testing of the PF insert, now being built by the EU and RF PTs in the CS Naka
(JA) test facility, at the beginning of 2004. A proposal by the JA PT to build an EC Gyrotron test facility wasdiscussed. The PB recognized the need to develop a testing facility for a 1 MW CW launcher.
The PB took note of the potential collaboration between Participants on the construction and testing of thefirst ITER Neutral Beam line before the normal procurement schedule.
An EU PT proposal on re-establishment of the Test Blanket Working Group (TBWG) was endorsed, with thescope of activities, reporting and membership as outlined in the proposal.
The PB took note of the IT Leader report on the ongoing evaluation of configuration management software
which will be used during the ITER construction and operation phases. After extensive assessment thesoftware is expected to be operational by the end of the year.
The next meeting of the PB will be held on 3 - 4 June 2002 in Cadarache, France in conjunction with N4.

"EU DIVERTOR CELEBRATION DAY"by Dr. M. Merola, European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA), Garching
During the ITER EDA and CTA period, the EU Party has carried out an extensive R&D programme on highheat flux components, which culminated with the successful manufacturing of a complete set of near full-scale
prototypes for each divertor component, namely the vertical target, the dome liner and the cassette body.
(Photos of the three divertor components are on pages 3 and 4.)
On the occasion of the completion of these manufacturing activities, on 16 January 2002, an "EU Divertor
Celebration Day" was organized at Plansee AG, Reutte, Austria. Dr. Michael Schwarzkopf, Chief Executive2

Officer of Plansee AG, and Prof. Angelo Airaghi, President of Ansaldo Ricerche, led the delegation of the two
industrial companies which were the main contributors to the manufacturing activities. About 30 participants
attended the meeting including Dr. Robert Aymar, ITER Director, Prof. Karl Lackner, EFDA Leader and Dr.
Roberto Andreani, EFDA Associate Leader for Technology, as well as representatives from the CEA, ENEA,
IPP and ÖAW Euratom Associations.

Dome Liner prototype with tungsten armour

Vertical Target prototype with CFC and tungsten
armourOn behalf of Plansee, Mr. Bernd Hofmann, the General Manager of Plansee for the production of refractory
metals, welcomed the participants and expressed the pleasure of Plansee at hosting this meeting. He outlined
the commitment of the Plansee management to nuclear fusion. In the past decade Plansee has continuously
sponsored plasma facing component (PFC) R&D and thereby steadily raised their performance limits. In
these years Plansee maintained an adequate level of personnel and equipment resources, necessary for thedevelopment and fabrication of PFCs, even during periods of lower external demands. This resulted in therelease of special fabrication techniques from other production divisions and the creation of a group ofspecialists, uniquely dedicated to this topic. Mr. Hofmann concluded by expressing the intention of Plansee
to continue this policy.
Dr. Robert Aymar, ITER Director, presented an outline of the ITER project. He recalled that the programmatic
objective of this next step machine is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusionenergy for peaceful purposes. The main technical objectives consist in (1) demonstrating extended burn ofDT plasmas, with steady state as the ultimate goal, (2) integrating and testing all essential fusion powerreactor technologies and components and (3) demonstrating the safety and environmental acceptability offusion. After a description of the main technical features of the machine he stressed the importance of thestart of the formal negotiations to set up the International Agreement under which ITER could be built.
Dr. Roberto Andreani, EFDA Associate Leader for Technology, presented an outline of the EU fusion
technology programme for the coming years. It includes a series of activities related to the next step (ITER)
and to the long term development, to be performed by the Associations and by European industry, financedby the Community and co-ordinated by the EFDA Garching Close Support Unit. In particular, the activities
related to ITER are proposed in view of: (1) the completion of the R&D activities already launched during the3

ITER CTA; (2) the implementation of the activities requested by the ITER International Team concerning thefinalization of the design in preparation for the completion of the technical specifications for the procurementof the items with the longest delivery times; (3) the preparation of the European site(s) proposal through thework of the European ITER Site technical Study (EISS) group; (4) the need to undertake manufacturing R&Dto allow European industry to be effective and competitive in the areas of interest expressed for the ITER
procurement packages through the Fusion Industry Committee.

Outboard Cassette Body with integration prototypes assembled onto it
Dr. Richard Tivey, ITER Divertor Group Leader, showed the design of the ITER divertor. The procurement of
this component is covered by the Procurement Packages 17.P1 "Divertor Cassette Integration" and 17.P2"Divertor Plasma-Facing Components". It consists of the supply of 54 cassettes bodies and 6 spares with therelated PFCs. Prior to the series production, one prototype shall be manufactured and tested for each of thecomponents to be delivered. Dr. Tivey concluded his talk by emphasizing the impressive achievements
obtained in the R&D carried out within the ITER project.
Mr. Bertram Schedler, who is in charge of activities for nuclear fusion at Plansee, focused in his presentationon the developments of technologies relevant for the divertor during the last decade at Plansee. He outlined
the importance of synergies at the start of the corresponding activities in the early nineties. At that time thedevelopment and manufacture of PFCs profited from already available joining techniques being used ingraphite backed X-ray targets for the medical industry and high voltage circuit breakers, which are employed
for the transmission of energy. He outlined how the changing requirements for PFCs have influenced thePlansee preferred technology from brazing to the latest hot isostatic pressing. Mr. Schedler concluded his talkby describing the manufacture and testing of the vertical target and dome liner full-scale divertor prototypes.
Dr. Marco Grattarola, Ansaldo Ricerche PFC Group Leader, described the activities on high temperature
brazing technology carried out in the recent years at Ansaldo Ricerche. This work is carried out by a group ofdedicated staff and demonstrate a renewed interest of Ansaldo Ricerche in the area of PFCs. In particular, amanufacturing technology based on silver-free high temperature brazing has been developed, and further
activities are planned to improve the related performance and reliability. His presentation concluded with adescription of the full-scale divertor integration prototypes manufactured by Ansaldo Ricerche. The objectives
for these components were the demonstration of the engineering concept of the divertor, the verification ofthe integration with the cassette body and the thermo-hydraulic testing of the whole divertor unit.
4Prof. Chung Wu, EFDA Responsible Officer for Plasma/Wall Interaction, summarized the EU development of
three-dimensional carbon fibre reinforced carbon (CFC) composites. The grades now available offer
optimized high thermal conductivity and mechanical properties in the three directions, and proved to beparticularly suited for the armour of the most loaded areas of the ITER divertor.
In his talk Dr. André Grosman, on behalf of the CIEL (French acronym for Internal Components and Limiters)
Project team from the Association Euratom-CEA Cadarache stressed the challenge represented by therealization of high quality actively cooled PFCs. In this respect, great experience has been gained by the CEAteams since the beginning of Tore Supra operation, which culminated with the realization of the finger
elements of the new toroidal pump limiter, designed for Tore Supra as a major part of the CIEL project. This
project also includes a quasi-full coverage of the vacuum vessel and ports with actively cooled stainless steel
panels and a rather complete thermographic monitoring of the limiter. The development work for the finger
elements in the mid nineties proved that the selected concept could meet the requirements (including a peakheat flux higher than 10 MW/m2). The manufacturing process (660 elements with a total area of 7 m2)
showed the absolute need for strict control tests during fabrication and for thermographic examinations asfinal acceptance tests. The unavoidable difficulties encountered could be solved by a close collaboration
between the supplier and the customer. He also emphasized the great experience gained in Europe in thelast years in overcoming such difficulties and the very challenging task, which high heat flux PFC
manufacturing still represents.
Dr. Hermann Renner, W7-X Division Head at IPP Greifswald, and Dr. Jean Boscary, W7-X Responsible
Officer at IPP Greifswald, presented a talk on the forthcoming manufacturing activities for the divertor for thestellarator WENDELSTEIN 7-X (W7-X). This component will consist of 1300 actively cooled target elementswith a total area of 30 m2 and will involve the largest worldwide series production of high heat flux
components prior to the construction of ITER. It includes water-cooled PFCs to allow steady state operationand to provide an efficient particle and power exhaust for a maximum pulse duration of 30 minutes. Thedivertor elements are designed to withstand 10 MW/m2. They are based on the flat tile concept and use thesame armour material and the same heat sink material foreseen for the ITER divertor. This fact is leading toa close collaboration between the W7-X project and the EU ITER Party with mutual benefits. After completionof the basic design activity of W7-X, the work is now being put out to tender.

Participants in the Meeting5

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Mario Merola, EFDA Responsible Officer for the Divertor Technology, reported
that the fabrication of the first vertical target prototype was completed in 1998. This component contained, on
a medium-size scale, all the main features of the corresponding ITER divertor design, and was high heat flux
tested up to 20 MW/m2 for 2000 cycles without failure. In the same year a full-scale section of the outboard
divertor cassette body was also completed by means of welded forged plates, rather than by casting, with acorresponding drastic reduction of costs. Finally, in 2001, near full-scale vertical target and dome liner
prototypes were delivered. Dr. Merola concluded his talk by pointing out that the EU has shown a systematic
capability to manufacture high heat flux components together with mastery of the required non-destructive
examination techniques and quality assurance procedures. This demonstrated, on the prototype scale, themanufacturing feasibility of the ITER divertor and puts the EU in the position to start the related procurement
as soon as the decision about ITER construction is taken. The time period remaining until then will be used
to optimize the fabrication processes and to develop more cost effective alternatives.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Robert Aymar
Richard Tivey
Chris Ibbott
Vladimir Barabash

ITER IT
ITER IT
ITER IT
ITER IT

Karl Lackner
Roberto Andreani
Wolfgang Daenner
Mario Merola
Chung Wu
Jim Palmer
Gottfried Vieider

EFDA CSU Garching
EFDA CSU Garching
EFDA CSU Garching
EFDA CSU Garching
EFDA CSU Garching
EFDA CSU Garching
ExpertMichael Schwarzkopf
Günther Kneringer
Wolfgang Köck
Bernd Hofmann
Robert Riedl
Bertram Schedler

PlanseePlanseePlanseePlanseePlanseePlanseeAngelo Airaghi
Ansaldo Ricerche
Michele Santangelo
Ansaldo Ricerche
Franco Rosatelli
Ansaldo Ricerche
Gian Paolo Sanguinetti Ansaldo Ricerche
Marco Grattarola
Ansaldo Ricerche
André Grosman
Jacques Schlosser

CEA Cadarache
CEA Cadarache

Aldo Pizzuto

ENEA Frascati

Hermann Renner
Jean Boscary
Harald Bolt

IPP Greifswald
IPP Greifswald
IPP Garching

Hannspeter WinterÖAW

Printed by the IAEA in Austria
June 2002

02-01191

Items to be considered for inclusion in the ITER CTA Newsletter should be submitted to B. Kuvshinnikov, 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).