A moving belt divertor concept with applications to ITER

A moving belt divertor concept allows the removal of the high heat fluxes expected in ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), and reduces the effects of plasma erosion by presenting a larger surface area which is uniformly exposed to the plasma. Several candidate belt materials have been identified which allow the use of rollers of practical sizes. Slight tilting of adjacent belts in the toroidal direction allows access between belts for coolant inlets/outlets and roller drive mechanisms, by providing regions of shadow relative to the incident plasma ions. Potentially serious electromagnetics issues introduced by the belt motion may be mitigated by the choice of a sufficiently resistive belt material and/or by toroidal electrical segmentation of the belt. Thus, the scoping analyses performed indicate that a belt divertor concept is feasible for a near-term fusion reactor such as ITER. Among the advantages offered by the belt divertor concept is the possibility of continual surface maintenance, including the removal of the redeposited carbon-tritium layer and the deposition of sacrificial carbon.<>