Similarly to the cycle of nature, winter is coming also in the field of science. Namely, the cool down of the 140 tons superconducting Toroidal Field magnet has started under the 24/7 supervision of experts announcing the next WEST experimental campaign.
Let's also have a new look on the WEST limiters for the next campaign. Tungsten tiles were switched to 92 boron nitride tiles to investigate midplane impurity sources impact. Boron nitride has attractive thermal properties for a plasma facing material. A tile prototype was successfully tested in mechanical fatigue last June. However, we do not fully know how it is going to behave in a tokamak operation. The first weeks of the coming C5 campaign will be crucial for the future of boron nitride in WEST.
Plasma radiation subject also should not be underestimated since its role in the power balance of plasma scenarios is of significant importance. That is why a global effort to improve tungsten radiation models in view of preparing ITER operation is undertaken.
For more information on the current work on the WEST tokamak go to the newsletter available on: irfm.cea.fr/en
Source: irfm.cea.fr
Photo: WEST Vacuum Vessel; CEA/IRFM - C. Roux
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