Innovative tokamak DEMO first wall and divertor material concepts

ITER has selected Be as the first wall and C and W as the divertor surface materials. When extrapolated to the DEMO design, C and Be layers will not be suitable due to radiation damage. The remaining material, W, could also suffer radiation damage from helium ion implantation and experience blistering at the first wall and form submicron fine structure at the divertor. In this paper we introduce a new concept called the boron W-mesh (BW-mesh) in which B is infiltrated into a W-mesh. The goal is to use a thin coating of B to protect the W-mesh from helium ion damage and to maintain a sufficient amount of B to protect the W from transient events like edge localized modes (ELMs) and disruptions. Critical issues and corresponding development of this BW-mesh concept have been identified, including the need for real time boronization.