In-pile testing of ITER first wall mock-ups at relevant thermal loading conditions in the LVR-15 nuclear research reactor

The TW3 in-pile rig enabled the thermal fatigue testing of ITER primary first wall mock-ups in the core of the nuclear reactor. This experiment investigated the neutron irradiation influence on the design performance under high heat flux testing. A thermal flux of 0.5 MW/m2 in the neutron field of the core of the LVR-15 nuclear reactor was applied. Within the scope of the tests with simultaneous neutron irradiation, the TW3 rig reached a record of 17,040 thermal cycles with the radiation damage in the range of 0.41-1.17 dpa depending on the material. Even after a high number of thermal cycles, while being irradiated by neutrons, no damage of the tested mock-ups was visually observed. Further testing and analysis will follow in the Forschungszentrum Juelich.