In-Situ Monitoring of Actively Cooled Plasma Facing Components Using Acoustic and Thermal Methods

Plasma facing components (PFC) for modern steady state fusion devices have to withstand heat fluxes up to 20 MW m−2. In case of internal defects in the components, a critical heat flux event can occur at an incident heat flux lower than expected in a defect-free component. It is therefore essential to develop in-vessel means for on line safety monitoring to prevent PFC destruction, and health monitoring during shutdown to control PFC damage. Two methods are developed in this paper, covering these topics.