P/T Colloquium: The Challenges of Plasma-Surface Interactions in Magnetic Fusion for ITER and Beyond

Thursday, 1/22/09, 3:45 PM

Physics Auditorium

The plasma-facing surfaces surrounding a steady-state magnetic confinement D-T nuclear fusion reactor will arguably be in the harshest environment ever foreseen for engineered materials. The materials must be resilient to enormous steady and transient power, energy and particle loads, all while their material properties evolve due to the damage produced by the D-T neutrons. We will explore how issues arising from plasma-surface interactions, such as erosion, impurity contamination, and fuel retention, produce serious limitations to ITER for its performance and longevity -- and such limitations are even more restrictive in reactors. Unfortunately, the complexity of the plasma-surface coupling, and the present dearth of in-situ surface diagnosis, give us poor predictive capability in these areas. We will highlight new research directions that would greatly enhance our scientific understanding of plasma-surface interactions.