Abstract:JET underwent a transformation from a full carbon-dominated tokamak to a full metallic device with the ITER-like wall combination for the activated phase with Beryllium main chamber and Tungsten divertor. The ITER-Like Wall (ILW) experiment at JET provides an ideal test bed for ITER and shall demonstrate as primary goals the plasma compatibility with metallic walls and the reduction in fuel retention. We report on a set of experiments ( = 2.0 , = 2.0 − 2.4 , = 0.2 − 0.4) in different confinement and plasma conditions with global gas balance analysis demonstrating a strong reduction of the long term retention rate by a factor ten with respect to carbon references. All experiments have been executed in a series of identical plasma discharges in order to achieve maximum plasma duration until the analysis limit of the active gas handling system has been reached. The composition analysis shows high purity of the recovered gas, typically 99% D. For typical L-mode discharges ( = 0.5 ), type III ( = 5.0 ), and type I ELMy H-mode plasmas ( = 12.0 ) a drop of the retention rate normalised to the operational time in divertor configuration has been measured from 1.27 × 10 has been obtained with the ILW. The observed reduction by one order of magnitude confirms the expected predictions concerning the plasma-facing material change in ITER and widens the operation without active cleaning in the DT phase in comparison to a full carbon device.

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The original goals of the JET ITER-like wall included the study of the impact of an all W divertor on plasma operation (Coenen et al 2013 Nucl. Fusion 53 073043) and fuel retention (Brezinsek et al 2013 Nucl. Fusion 53 083023). ITER has recently decided to install a full-tungsten (W) divertor from the start of operations. One of the key inputs required in support of this decision was the study of the possibility of W melting and melt splashing during transients. Damage of this type can lead to modifications of surface topology which could lead to higher disruption frequency or compromise subsequent plasma operation. Although every effort will be made to avoid leading edges, ITER plasma stored energies are sufficient that transients can drive shallow melting on the top surfaces of components. JET is able to produce ELMs large enough to allow access to transient melting in a regime of relevance to ITER. Transient W melt experiments were performed in JET using a dedicated divertor module and a sequence of IP = 3.0 MA/BT = 2.9 T H-mode pulses with an input power of PIN = 23 MW, a stored energy of ∼6 MJ and regular type I ELMs at ΔWELM = 0.3 MJ and fELM ∼ 30 Hz. By moving the outer strike point onto a dedicated leading edge in the W divertor the base temperature was raised within ∼1 s to a level allowing transient, ELM-driven melting during the subsequent 0.5 s. Such ELMs (δW ∼ 300 kJ per ELM) are comparable to mitigated ELMs expected in ITER (Pitts et al 2011 J. Nucl. Mater. 415 (Suppl.) S957–64). Although significant material losses in terms of ejections into the plasma were not observed, there is indirect evidence that some small droplets (∼80 µm) were released. Almost 1 mm (∼6 mm3) of W was moved by ∼150 ELMs within 7 subsequent discharges. The impact on the main plasma parameters was minor and no disruptions occurred. The W-melt gradually moved along the leading edge towards the high-field side, driven by j × B forces. The evaporation rate determined from spectroscopy is 100 times less than expected from steady state melting and is thus consistent only with transient melting during the individual ELMs. Analysis of IR data and spectroscopy together with modelling using the MEMOS code Bazylev et al 2009 J. Nucl. Mater. 390–391 810–13 point to transient melting as the main process. 3D MEMOS simulations on the consequences of multiple ELMs on damage of tungsten castellated armour have been performed. These experiments provide the first experimental evidence for the absence of significant melt splashing at transient events resembling mitigated ELMs on ITER and establish a key experimental benchmark for the MEMOS code.

The impact of carbon and beryllium/tungsten as plasma-facing components on plasma radiation, divertor power and particle fluxes, and plasma and neutral conditions in the divertors has been assessed in JET both experimentally and by simulations for plasmas in low confinement mode. In high-recycling conditions the studies show a 30% reduction in total radiation in the scrape-off layer when replacing carbon with beryllium in the main chamber and tungsten in the divertor. Correspondingly, at the low field side divertor plate a twofold increase in power conducted to the plate and a twofold increase in electron temperature at the strike point were measured. In low-recycling conditions the SOL was found to be nearly identical for both materials configurations. These observations are in qualitative agreement with predictions from the fluid edge code package EDGE2D/EIRENE. The rollover of the ion currents to both plates was measured to occur at 30% higher upstream densities and radiated power fraction in the Be/W configuration. Past rollover, it was possible to reduce the ion currents to the low field side targets by a factor of 2 and to operate in stable, detached conditions in the JET-ILW configuration; in the JET-C configuration the reduction was limited to 50%. Plasmas with low and high triangularity (and thus magnetic separation to the top of the device), and horizontal and vertical target configurations were investigated and compared to EDGE2D/EIRENE predictions.

Tungsten erosion in the outer divertor of the JET ITER like wall was quantified by spectroscopy. Effective sputtering yields of typically 10 −4 were measured in L-mode at ∼ 30 eV attached divertor conditions and beryllium was identified as the main cause of sputtering. The signature of prompt redeposition was observed in the analysis of WI 400.9 nm and WII 364 nm line ratios and indicative of > 50% redeposition fractions. Inter-and intra-ELM sputtering were compared for an example of 10 Hz ELMs with 13 MW NBI heating, in which intra-ELM sputtering was found to dominate by a factor of 5. Nitrogen seeding initially increased the tungsten sputtering threefold due to higher extrinsic impurity levels and effectively reduced the tungsten sputtering when the divertor plasma temperature was decreased from the initial 25 eV down to 15 eV.