Tritium distributions in castellated structures of Be limiter tiles from JET-ITER-like wall experiments

Abstract

Abstract Tritium retention in the castellated structure of beryllium limiters used in JET with the ITER-like wall (ILW) during the first (ILW1), third (ILW3) and all three (ILW1-3) campaigns were examined and evaluated. Tritium was deposited on the surfaces inside the castellation grooves together with deuterium, beryllium, oxygen, carbon and small amounts of metallic impurities such as nickel, copper and tungsten. The tritium content after the ILW1 campaign was greater than after the ILW3 campaign. This is attributed to the steadily decreasing amount of carbon impurities in JET from campaign to campaign. The majority of tritium was retained in shallow regions in the grooves, up to 2 mm from the entrance to the gap. It was comparable on all sides of the castellation, i.e. no difference has been detected between the toroidal and poloidal gaps. Secondly, the tritium retention in the gaps was similar on all specimens independent of their position in the tokamak, while the retention on the plasma-facing surfaces clearly depended on the tile position. The tritium deposition patterns in the castellation were also compared with the deuterium distribution determined in earlier studies.