Armor and heat sink materials joining technologies development for ITER plasma facing components

An extensive program on the development of the joining technologies between armor (beryllium, tungsten and carbon fibre composites) and copper alloys heat sink materials for ITER plasma facing components (PFCs) has been carri ed out by ITER home teams. A brief review of this R&D program is presented in this paper. The critical problems related to these joints are described. Based on the results of this program and new requirements on the reduction the manufacturing cost of ITER PFC, reference technologies for use in ITER have been selected and recommended for further development. (C) 2000 Elsev ier Science B.V. All rights reserved.