Actively convected liquid metal divertor

Shimada, Michiya; Hirooka, Yoshihiko*

Tungsten is considered to be the most promising material for divertor in a fusion reactor. Tungsten divertor can withstand the heat loads of ITER, but the heat loads of DEMO divertor is a challenge. Pulsive heat loads as those associated with disruption could melt tungsten targets. The surface would not be flat after subsequent resolidification, which would significantly deteriorate its heat handling capability. Furthermore, DBTT of tungsten is rather high: 400C, which would become even higher after neutron irradiation, possibly resulting in cracks in tungsten. Our proposal is to use liquid metal for the divertor target material and actively circulate it with force. A simplified analysis of mhd equation in a cylindrical geometry suggests that the engineering requirement is modest. This analysis suggests that this new divertor concept merits further investigation.