STABILITY OF THE BE-STEAM REACTION AND ITS IMPACT ON SAFETY

Beryllium is one of the major candidate materials for the plasma-facin g components of ITER. At high temperatures it represents, however, a c onsiderable safety issue because of its high toxicity and its highly e xothermic and fast oxidation in case of steam or air ingress into the vacuum vessel of the reactor. Such conditions might occur after a plas ma disruption. The work presented here attempts to analyze the transie nt behavior of the thermochemical system of a reacting plasma-facing s urface, identify the reaction runaway conditions, and assess its impac t on overall ITER safety.