ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Division Spotlight
Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2025
Jul 2024
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
April 2025
Latest News
Nuclear News 40 Under 40 discuss the future of nuclear
Seven members of the inaugural Nuclear News 40 Under 40 came together on March 4 to discuss the current state of nuclear energy and what the future might hold for science, industry, and the public in terms of nuclear development.
To hear more insights from this talented group of young professionals, watch the “40 Under 40 Roundtable: Perspectives from Nuclear’s Rising Stars” on the ANS website.
M.E. Friend, C.B. Baxi, S. Ishida, G. Kurita, E.E. Reis, A. Sakasai, W.P. West
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 923-929
Divertor and Plasma-Facing Components | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963358
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
General Atomics recently completed a divertor design study for JAERI for the JT-60 Super Upgrade (JT-60SU) tokamak. JT-60SU is being designed as a superconducting device for an integrated R&D investigation of steady-state operation in a tokamak. A divertor design was developed to accommodate double-null operation for a 1000 s discharge duration at 8 MA of plasma current and 80 MW of auxiliary heating. The work reported here is an extension of a previous design study.1,2 The thermal requirements are a peak heat flux of 9 MW/m2, a maximum surface temperature of 1600°C, and a poloidal cooling flow configuration for the plasma facing components. The structural requirements are determined from both the predicted stresses due to halo currents as well as the stresses due to differential thermal expansion encountered during bakeout. The halo current loads are based on a nominal halo current of 0.19 Ip with a 2.0 toroidal peaking factor. Analysis has determined that the halo current load per centimeter of circumference is P = 2856 (1+cosθ) N/cm, where θ is the toroidal angle. The loads due to differential thermal expansion are a result of an expected 100°C temperature difference between the vacuum vessel and divertor during bakeout.
Based on the aforementioned criteria, a divertor design was developed for all three areas of the JT-60SU divertor: the inner baffle, the private flux baffle, and the outer baffle. In order to have highly reliable divertor components, flexible supports sized to accommodate the structural loads are utilized in the design rather than insulators or sliding interfaces. The plasma facing components are mounted on a structural mounting plate to form a removable and remotely-maintainable segment which is in turn mounted on the supports. For outer and private flux baffles, these structural mounting plates are joined together using a double shear joint design to form a structurally continuous ring to react the halo current loads. The plasma facing components are broken into 8° segmentation; however, the outer and private flux baffles have an alternating 8° and 16° structural segmentation which forms the double shear toroidal structural joint. The inner baffle takes advantage of its relatively short poloidal length and its proximity to the vacuum vessel to provide structural integrity. The thermal design consists of a plasma facing material of flat CFC tiles that are brazed onto a poloidally cooled copper heat sink. Adequate gaps between the baffles and wall are provided for pumping of recycled gas.