HELCZA-High heat flux test facility for testing ITER EU first wall components

The ITER first wall panels are exposed directly to thermonuclear plasma and must extract heat loads of approximately 2 MW/m2 (normal heat flux) to 4.7 MW/m2 (enhanced heat flux). The panels are qualified through high heat flux cyclic testing before installation in ITER. Initially, the first wall panel prototypes will undergo full-power tests, they will be followed by the pre-series panels and finally the series ones. The experimental complex HELCZA (High Energy Load CZech Assembly) has been completed and is currently in the commissioning phase. HELCZA shall be optimised to provide a cyclic heating of the ITER EU first wall panels with a heat flux in the multi-MW/m2 range using an 800 kW electron beam. On a reduced area it is possible to reach GW/m2 scale. Total available test area in HELCZA is 4 m2 depending on the experimental setup. Operational conditions of the HELCZA facility enable the temperature of the cooling water to be set between 25 °C and 320 °C, within a pressure range up to 15 MPa. The cooling system provides an optimal flow rate up to 40 m3/h independent of the pressure.