Design concept for the IFMIF test assemblies

According to specific materials testing needs, the available irradiation vo lume of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) has been partitioned into a high-flux region that has an irradiation damage ra te for Iron of greater than 20 displacements per atom (dpa) per full-power year (fpy), a medium-flux region with 1-20 dpa/fpy, a low-flux region with fluence levels between 0.1 and 1 dpa/fpy, and a very low-flux zone with an annual accumulation of less than 0.1 dpa. A set of test assemblies, which i s located immediately downstream from the neutron producing Li-target, vert ically supports (1) test modules used for long-term irradiation of specimen s in the high- and medium-flux regions, and (2) an array of tubes used for inserting test capsules in the low- and very low-flux regions. Based on thi s arrangement and on small specimen test technologies, IFMIF is capable of providing sufficient volume and appropriate irradiation environments to mee t the requirements defined by the user community. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.