The WEST tokamak, being operated at Cadarache by CEA and its worldwide partners particularly China, is upgraded to extend its capability of operation up to a duration of 1000s for test and validation of the ITER-grade plasma facing components, and for preparing the operation in ITER. It consists in installing a full actively cooled divertor able to sustain high heat flux up to 20 MW/m2 in steady-state. This divertor is constituted of 456 Tungsten monoblock plasma facing elements (so called Plasma Facing Units, PFUs).
Tungsten Divertor Project was implemented under SIFFER activities for accompanying the industry in manufacturing and qualification of PFUs.
During the manufacturing of countless days and nights, the SIFFER joint team made enormous effort to overcome technical difficulties to ensure the components mass production as well as to meet ITER-level quality requirement. PFU have been delivered to WEST.
To celebrate such a great achievement, a ceremony was held at Hefei via a video conference on Sept. 22 2020 in the presence of DENG Xiangyang, Executive Vice-Governor of Anhui Province, LUO Delong, Director General of ITER CHINA and BIGOT Bernard, Director General of the ITER Organization.
According to Jerome BUCALOSSI, director of IRFM, "divertor is one of the essential elements of fusion machines ensuring the extraction of heat flux and impurity particles... SIFFER continues focusing on physics and technological issues for ITER and next step fusion devices".
The completion is "never the results of luck" remarked by Gabriele FIONI, Rector Delegate for Higher Education, Research and Innovation of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, it is a success rooted from "already 40 years that researchers, engineers and technicians work together".