Plasma Facing Materials for the JET ITER-Like Wall

The chosen materials for plasma facing components for the deuterium/tritium phase of ITER are beryllium and tungsten. These materials have already been widely investigated in various devices like ion beam or electron beam tests. However, the operation of this material combination in a large tokamak including plasma wall interaction, material degradation, erosion and material mixing has not been proven yet.

The ITER-like Wall, which has been recently installed in JET, consists of a combination of bulk tungsten and tungsten coated CFC divertor tiles as well as bulk beryllium and beryllium coated INCONEL in the main chamber. The experiments in JET will provide the first fully representative test of the ITER material choice under relevant conditions.

This paper concentrates on material research and developments for the materials of the JET ITER-like Wall with respect to mechanical and thermal properties. The impact of these materials and components on the JET operating limits with the ITER-like Wall and implications for the ongoing scientific program will be summarised.