Armour materials for the ITER plasma facing components

The selection of the armour materials for the Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) of the international Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) is a trade-off between multiple requirements derived from the unique features of a burning fusion plasma environment. The factors that affect the selection come primarily from the requirements of plasma performance (e.g., minimise impurity contamination in the cofined plasma), engineering integrity, component lifetime (e.g., withstand thermal stresses, acceptable erosion, etc.) and safety (minimise tritium and radioactive dust inventories). The current selection in ITER is to use beryllium on the first-wall, upper baffle and on the port limiter surfaces, carbon fibre composites near the strike points of the divertor vertical target and tungsten elsewhere in the divertor and lower baffle modules. This paper provides the background for this selection vis-a-vis the operating parameters expected during normal and off-normal conditions. The reasons for the selection of the specific grades of armour materials are also described. The effects of the neutron irradiation on the properties of Be, W and carbon fibre composites at the expected ITER conditions are briefly reviewed. Critical issues are discussed together with the necessary future R&D.