Preface

This report documents the results of the Conceptual Design Activity (CDA) on the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF), conducted during 1995 and 1996. The activity is under the auspices of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Implementing Agreement for a Programme of Research and Development on Fusion Materials. An IEA Fusion Materials Executive Subcommittee was charged with overseeing the IFMIF-CDA work. Participants in the CDA are the European Union, Japan, and the United States, with the Russian Federation as an associate member.

The guiding principle throughout this design activity has been to meet the requirements of the expected users, i.e. the scientists developing materials for fusion systems. The Executive Subcommittee confirms that the final facility specifications achieved by the CDA is capable of fulfilling the expected user requirements, especially to meet the needs of the research and development on materials for DEMO-stage fusion reactors. The conceptual design was mostly developed in the first year of the project. The activity has recently added assessments of the cost, safety and RAM (Reliability, Availability and Maintainability). The route to continuation of the activity from the current CDA stage to the eventual construction and operation of IFMIF has also been assessed. The supplementary research and development tasks that need to be implemented in the next phase, the Engineering Validation Phase, have been defined and documented in a separate report.

In the more than two decades of fusion materials research, a key concern has been the issues of materials damage with high energy fusion neutrons. Since the beginning of the study of materials for fusion, both scientific and engineering aspects of the evaluation have suffered from the lack of a key tool, i.e. a source of neutrons that adequately simulate a fusion environment. With the present CDA, the history of the materials development and thus the fusion power development will add a new page for a promising future, with the definition of the facility needed to fully quality materials for fusion systems.

The pioneering work for an accelerator-based neutron irradiation facility based on the deuteron-lithium stripping reaction (D-Li source) was implemented early in 1978 by the FMIT Project in the USA. This project defined the essential technology basis for the present IFMIF design. After the unfortunate cancellation of FMIT in 1984, the urgent need of building such an intense, high energy neutron source was repeatedly endorsed in the IEA's formal assessments, e.g. by the Cottrell Blue Ribbon Panel (1983) and by the Amelinckx Senior Advisory Panel (1986). Those international panels emphasized the importance of constructing the facility for the materials development aspects of fusion power development.

In the last decade, a group of materials scientists working under the auspices of the IEA Fusion Materials agreement continued their collaborative effort toward selecting a potential neutron source concept through a series of international workshops. At the same time, a conceptual modification of the D-Li source was undertaken by the ESNIT Program in Japan (1988-92). Those activities helped resolve a few of the key issues that had been the sources of criticism on the suitability of the D-Li source.

The essential kick-off of the IFMIF activity was made in February 1989 when an IEA International Workshop was organized at San Diego, USA. It began an important dialogue between the communities of materials research and facility design and operation. Such efforts eventually yielded a rewarding result when in 1993 the IEA Fusion Power Coordinating Committee (FPCC) requested the Executive Committee for the Fusion Materials Implementing Agreement to summarize the progress in selecting a neutron source concept. The planning then accelerated in 1994 to organize an international activity. A proposed plan for the IFMIF was accepted in 1995 by the FPCC, with additional advice on the organization structure. The details of the CDA operation since the onset of that official action appears in this text. I would simply point out here that the activity has been very successful because we were able to get the right people, i.e. people with the best available expertise, with high enthusiasm and with the ability to work together. It is strongly recommended that the fusion community maintain this group of people, the IFMIF-CDA team, for the future development of IFMIF. This is a valuable and rare collection of human talent.

The Fusion Materials Executive Committee and the Executive Subcommittee for the IFMIF-CDA have been highly impressed with the dedication and enthusiasm of the design team. This has been the major factor enabling the distinguished accomplishments of the CDA. The committees recognize that this effect has been created through the international collaboration under the experienced and talented leadership of Prof. Thomas E. Shannon. He has also had the strong support of reliable subleaders in the many different technical sectors. We should also remember the contribution of a number of dedicated people who had left the activity by their retirement before the CDA stage. Among the dozen unforgettable names, the contribution of Dr. Donald G. Doran must be singled out for his organization of the San Diego Workshop and the leadership of the IEA Working Group.

Finally, appreciation is given for the continued interest of the IEA-FPCC. Their encouragement has been a most effective external driving force for this activity.