EU R&D on divertor components

Since the last SOFT conference held in Helsinki in 2002, substantial progress has been made in the EU R&D on the divertor components. A number of activities have been completed and new ones have been launched. The present paper gives an update of the works carried out by the EU Participating Team in support of the development of the divertor, which is one of the most challenging components of the next-step ITER machine. The following topics are covered: (1) the further development and consolidation of suitable technologies for the production of high heat-flux components, which culminated with the successful manufacturing and testing of a full-scale vertical target prototype; (2) the completion of the post-irradiation testing of divertor mock-ups and samples; (3) the preparation for the hydraulic and assembly tests of a complete set of full-scale divertor components; (4) the on-going R&D on the definition of workable acceptance criteria for the procurement of ITER high heat-flux components; (5) the activities in support of the divertor design.