Design of a radiative semi-transparent liner for the ITER divertor cassette

The increased safety concern, resulting from the accumulation of tritium in the redeposited carbon-dominated films forming on the surfaces of the ITER divertor private region plasma facing components, has stimulated an important change of the gas box liner design. A significant modification of the ITER divertor cassette design was undertaken in the summer of 1997 with the removal of the so-called ‘wings’. This highlighted the necessity to protect the cold (150°C) pumping duct from radiated heat and particle flux from the plasma chamber. A cold duct has the potential to trap unacceptably high levels of tritium in the redeposited carbon films produced from erosion of the vertical target. To provide protection that minimises the uptake of tritium, a new semi-transparent liner operating with hot tungsten (W) tiles was proposed by the ITER Joint Central Team (JCT) and was developed by the RF Home Team. This liner design promises to minimise the amount of tritium trapped in it by operating with the surface temperature of the W in the range 800–1200°C. Radiatively cooled tiles on the surface of the liner maintain the surface temperature between these limits, for a surface heat flux of between 0.1 and 0.35 MW/m2, a range which takes into account the uncertainties in the predicted operational heat loads. This paper reports on the predicted operational regime of the liner which allows effective transformation of incoming atomic tritium and carbon into stable hydrocarbons, that can be pumped safely to the reprocessing plant. The role of hydrocarbons (as molecules and radicals) is assessed. A sensible parametric analysis of tritium retention, on the liner surface and on cold areas behind the liner, was performed for different conditions and operational parameters.