Current Activities in the Interactive Joint Research at Tohoku University - Advanced Evaluation of Radiation Effects on Fusion Materials

International Research Center for Nuclear Materials Science of the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University (hereafter the “Center”) was founded in 1969 and has been playing a vital role as the joint-use research center in Japan to assess the dynamic and static effects of neutron irradiation on the physical and mechanical properties of a variety of structural and functional materials through the use of nuclear reactors in Japan and overseas. The Center is now also open to researchers overseas. As a new initiative, the Center started an interactive joint research scheme on nuclear fusion reactor engineering with the NIFS in fiscal 2010. The interactive joint research aims at pioneering inter-disciplinary fields that connect neutron reactor engineering with other nuclear fusion sciences, and at conducting activities primarily on the key research subjects through inter-research-center collaboration. For this, a TDS (Thermal Desorption Spectrometer) with an ion gun (IG-TDS) has been installed in the radiation controlled area at the Center. Development of a compact divertor plasma simulator (C-DPS) system that will be integrated with the IG-TDS apparatus is in progress. It is prospected that the Center could play a leading role in international collaborative studies of neutron irradiation effects on plasma material interaction, along with other major research institutes over the world.