Fusion Engineering and Design 85 (2010) 12901295

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Fusion Engineering and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fusengdes

Codes and standards and regulation issues for design and construction of the
ITER mechanical components
V. Barabash , G. Sannazzaro, N. Mitchell, C. Jong, B. Giraud, K. Ioki, N. Taylor, M. Merola,
C. Walker, M. Glugla, W. Curd, D. Sands
ITER Organization, Route de Vinon, CS 90 046 13067 St Paul Lez Durance Cedex, France

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Available online 7 May 2010
Keywords:
Codes and Standards
ITER
Licensing
Nuclear pressure equipment
Pressure equipment

a b s t r a c t
A coherent set of Codes and Standards (C&S) for the ITER structures, system and components is needed
to full the safety and licensing requirements, and to provide the specied quality of the mechanical
components manufactured by the different ITER Parties. In general the basic regulatory documents do
not specify particular design and manufacturing codes, but for pressure equipment general Essential
Safety Requirements are formulated and the means to full them from a technical and legal point of
view are given. This paper presents requirements for the ITER pressure and nuclear pressure equipment.
It describes the selection of Codes and Standards for the mechanical components. Available industrial
codes and standards (e.g. ASME, RCC-MR, and European standards) are selected for ITER components. For
components not covered by conventional codes, specic structural design criteria and technical specications have been developed. The remaining issues discussed are related to the completion of the specic
C&S and the assessment of conformity with regulatory requirements before and during construction of
the components.
2010 ITER Organization. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In accordance with Article 14 of the Agreement on the establishment of the ITER organization, ITER shall observe French
regulations. In accordance with French Law, ITER is a Basic Nuclear
Installation because of the tritium inventory in the facility. The
licensing process for the ITER facility in application of French regulations has been described recently in detail in Ref. [1].
Specic attention has to be paid to regulations related to
mechanical components, in particular to components providing
a safety function. Among existing French regulatory documents,
the Order dated 12th December 2005 concerning nuclear pressure
equipment [2], Decree No. 99-1046 dated 13th December 1999
concerning pressure equipment (with later amendments) introduction of the Pressure Equipment Directive in France [3], and the
Order dated 10th August 1984 concerning the quality of the design,
construction and operation of structures, systems and components
of basic nuclear installations [4] are identied as documents establishing specic requirements for design and manufacture of the
mechanical components.
A coherent set of Codes and Standards (C&S) for the ITER structures, system and components is needed to full the safety and

Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 44 22 57 973; fax: +33 44 22 52 600.

E-mail address: vladimir.barabash@iter.org (V. Barabash).

licensing requirements, and to provide the specied quality of the

components manufactured by the different ITER Parties.
ITER, as unique facility, has many types of mechanical equipment. A multi-code approach is applied for the selection of the
codes for the various ITER components. The main reasons for this
approach are:
the wide variety of the ITER components and loads (e.g. operational temperature from 4 K to 1000 K, neutron irradiation
effect, etc.), which does not allow to use one existing industrial
code;
the need to make use of some advantages of specic existing
codes to cover the particular ITER operational requirements;
the unique feature of some ITER systems and components (magnet, in-vessels) for which there are no existing industrial codes
that address all specic features and for which special codes are
to be developed;
some components are nuclear pressure equipment and they shall
be designed and manufactured in accordance with applicable
French regulations;
some components are pressure equipment and they shall be
designed and manufactured in accordance with applicable
French regulations;
some components provide a connement barrier for a given
nuclear inventory; in some case this barrier is also nuclear pressure equipment, in other cases it is not pressure equipment.

0920-3796/$ see front matter 2010 ITER Organization. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2010.03.021

V. Barabash et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 85 (2010) 12901295

The paper presents a review of the selection of C&S for the

various ITER components and describes the application of French
regulations related to pressure and nuclear pressure equipment to
major mechanical components in ITER.
2. Regulatory requirements for pressure and nuclear
pressure equipment
2.1. Pressure Equipment Directive, 97/23/EC (PED) and French
Decree 99-1046 (ESP)
The Pressure Equipment Directive (acronym PED) was adopted
by the European Parliament and the European Council in May 1997.
From 29 May 2002 the pressure equipment directive is obligatory
throughout the European Union. The directive provides an adequate legislative framework at the European level for equipment
subject to a pressure hazard.
The French Decree No 99-1046 dated 13th December 1999
(amended by further Decrees in 2003 and 2007) and Order dated
21st December 1999 concerning classication and conformity
assessment (acronym ESP will be used in this paper) put the Pressure Equipment Directive in force in France [3].
The Directive and French Decree apply to the design, manufacture and conformity assessment of pressure equipment and
assemblies with a maximum allowable pressure greater than
0.5 bar over atmospheric pressure (1.5 bar absolute).
These regulations introduce a categorization (Category IIV, Category IV being the highest) of the pressure equipment, depending
on the hazard due to pressure, volume of the vessel or diameter
of the pipe, type of uid and temperature. There is an additional category which is Sound Engineering Practice (SEP). For each
category the so-called modules for conformity assessment in accordance with the Essential Safety Requirements are established. For
equipment in Category IIIV the conformity assessment has to be
performed by a Notied Body1 .
Some equipment operating under a pressure greater than 0.5 bar
can be excluded from the scope of directive.
The ESP and PED formulate the Essential Safety Requirements
(ESR) (see Annex 1 of ESP), which includes technical and legal
conditions which have to be satised. These requirements are
related to the design, manufacture, materials and other specic
conditions. The manufacturer of equipment is under an obligation to analyze the hazards and must then design and construct
it taking account of this analysis. The selection of C&S is the
responsibility of the manufacturer; he shall demonstrate that the
selected C&S provides conformity with ESR. The use of European harmonized standards in the design and manufacture of
a product will give the presumption of conformity with those
ESRs listed in Annex ZA of the particular harmonized standard.
After completion of the conformity assessment the manufacturer shall declare conformity and issue a CE mark2 . Pressure
equipment are subject to the provisions applicable to operation and re-qualication, as required. The specic rules for
the implementation of such requirements are described in the
special order concerning the operation of pressure equipment
[5].

1
Notied body is a company that has been nominated by a Member State and
notied to the European Commission for pressure equipment conformity assessment.
2
The CE mark is a mandatory conformity mark on many products placed on the
single market in the European Economic Area (EEA). CE marking means that the
pressure equipment complies with the provisions of this Directive. CE stands for
Conformit Europenne, European conformity in French.

1291

2.2. French Order concerning nuclear pressure equipment

(acronym ESPN)
This document [2] denes nuclear pressure equipment as equipment that meets the following conditions:

is pressure equipment as dened by ESP;

is used in a Basic Nuclear Installation;
directly ensures containment of radioactive substances, and
in case of failure leads to release of activity above 370 MBq.

ESPN has practically extended the application of the methodology foreseen by ESP and PED (ESR, conformity modules, etc.) to
nuclear pressure equipment in France. ESPN has double classication of the equipment:
Pressure hazard based on ESP rules, Category IIV, and Category
0 (equivalent to SEP);
Nuclear level N1, N2 and N3.
ESPN includes some additional requirement on ESR depending
on the nuclear level of the equipment.
As far as C&S are concerned, the ESPN does not dene specic
requirements for the selection of the codes, but requires that the
conformity with ESR is demonstrated. In accordance with ESPN
requirement, the operator of a nuclear facility shall provide the
description of operational conditions, and the manufacturer of the
equipment (who is responsible for the design, fabrication and conformity with regulation) shall select an applicable code which is
used as a tool for demonstrating conformity with Essential Safety
Requirements.
The ESPN also denes rules for maintenance and monitoring,
periodic inspections, installation and operation and periodic requalications of nuclear pressure equipment. A manufacturer of
nuclear equipment shall contract an Agreed (by the French regulator) Notied Body (ANB3 ) and after completion of the conformity
assessment shall declare conformity.
2.3. Quality Order 1994
This Order [4] denes the specic activities which shall be
implemented by the operator of a nuclear facility with regards to
the safety demonstration. Quality Related Activities (QRA) which
have an impact on the quality of Safety Important Components
shall be identied by operator and they are related to design, manufacturing, construction and operation of the nuclear facility. The
quality requirements of this order are implemented in the ITER
Quality Assurance Program, which is applicable for the ITER system
and components. Similar quality requirements must be implemented by the suppliers and/or contractors and following chain
of subcontractors.
3. C&S for the ITER components
The selection of the Codes and Standards for the mechanical
components is based on the comprehensive assessment of the
available codes and their features, ITER operational condition and
safety requirements. Mechanical components include vessels, piping, tanks, pumps, valves, heat exchanges etc. and supports. These

3
Agreed notied body is a company that is a Notied Body and which is
agreed/authorized by the French Nuclear Authority (Autorit de Surt Nuclaire,
ASN) for the conformity assessment of the nuclear pressure equipment as dened
by ESPN.

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V. Barabash et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 85 (2010) 12901295

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of C&S for the ITER mechanical components.

components may fall under French regulations related to pressure

and nuclear pressure equipment.
The principal safety requirement applicable to equipment fullling a connement function is structural integrity and leak tightness.
The design of the equipment must take into account the loading
specied for each item of equipment. In accordance with ESP and
ESPN the loads (pressure, electromagnetic forces, seismic, etc.) at
foreseeable conditions shall be taken into account for equipment
classication and design.
To ensure coherency between design, manufacturing, inspection and testing for each specic component one single code shall
be used. In some cases the coherency of codes shall be ensured at
the so-called equipment level when the regulation requires such
differentiation (for pressure equipment, see below).
A schematic diagram illustrating the selection of the specic C&S
for the ITER mechanical components is shown in Fig. 1. Generally
proposed codes can be divided into two main categories:
(1). ITER specic codes:
Magnet Structural Design Criteria [6],
Structural Design Criteria for In-vessel Components (SDC-IC) [7],
Technical specications for non-metallic window and insulating
[8],
Specications for design by experiment.
These criteria and specications have been developed in cooperation with the ITER Parties because there are no available industrial
codes which can cover specic features of the ITER design and operating conditions. The main specic features relate to the operation
of magnet components at 4 K under signicant electromagnetic
loads, while for the in-vessel components is the need of including in the design assessment a change of material properties after
neutron irradiation.

The detailed descriptions of these criteria are presented in Section 4 of this paper.
(2). Existing industrial C&S:
ASME codes,
RCC-MR, edition 2007 [9],
EU harmonized standards, e.g. EN 13445.
Historically for the ITER project US codes and standards have
been selected as the main codes because the US standards are familiar to most participants and because they are the origin of and
consistent with many other national standards. In particular, the
ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code and related Codes for piping,
valves, and pumps were adopted as the standards for the project.
ASME Section VIII Division 2 is selected as the main Code for various
vessels. However, the rules could be changed to Section VIII Division 1 for certain pressure vessels if analysis shows that Division 1
can be applied.
RCC-MR, edition 2007 is proposed as the design and construction code for the ITER vacuum vessel and port components. The
main reasons for the selection of this code and its main features are
described in Section 4.3.
Various European harmonized standards were recently developed. These standards are considered to be in conformity with
Essential Safety Requirements of ESP. The use of these standards
is proposed for some pressure equipment which will be manufactured in the EU.
With relation to ESP and ESPN the following types of equipment
are identied:
(1) Standard pressure (non-nuclear) equipment. Many ITER systems include various types of pressure equipment: magnet
feeders and manifolds, equipment in cryoplant and cryo-

V. Barabash et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 85 (2010) 12901295

distribution system, the heat rejection system of cooling

water systems, equipment for fuelling, etc. The uid is nonradioactive.
(2) Several ITER systems include nuclear pressure equipment as
dened in ESPN: vacuum vessel and ports, equipment in primary heat transfer system (heat exchangers, pressurizers, etc.),
equipment in the Tritium Plant, equipment in test blanket module systems, etc.
(3) Some ITER equipment operates at absolute pressure greater
that 1.5 bar. However, for the equipment the uid pressure can
be considered as . . .not signicant design factor as dened
in ESP. This equipment may meet the denition of equipment
described in point h, Part II, Article 2 of the above-mentioned
Decree, as for example the divertor. For divertor design the main
driving loads are electromagnetic and thermal, which are signicantly larger than water pressure for the current reference
design of the divertor, which allows to conclude that divertor
is outside of scope of ESP. In any case exclusion of the divertor
components from the scope of application of the French pressure equipment Decree does not exempt other ITER pressure
equipments from its provisions. Only a case-by-case analysis
may lead to the conclusion of applicability of the ESP for other
equipments.

Further to the application of ITER selected Codes and Standards

during design and manufacturing it is mandatory to follow the
ITER QA program requirements with regards to quality assurance
requirements of the applied C&S.

1293

The Magnet Structural Design Criteria include the following four

parts:
Part I: Main structural components and welds.
Part II: Magnet windings (radial plates and conductors) with high
and low voltage insulation and epoxy ller.
Part III: Bolts, keys, supports and special components.
Part IV: Cryogenic piping based on general rules of ASME B31.3.
For all magnet components which are operating largely without
in-service inspection, the questions related to the safety factors,
the operating loads, residual stresses, non-destructive examination
sensitivity and reliability, and accuracy of material data relevant
to the fracture and fatigue prediction procedures, become more
signicant at the design and fabrication stage for the magnets than
for conventional high temperature components.
The material requirements are specied in these criteria. Metallic materials shall be characterized at operational temperature 4 K,
except materials used for the helium supply piping system.
During fabrication ultrasonic inspection is required for all metallic components, and defect sizes must be quantied, which needs
more extensive procedure with calibration blocks according to
ASME Section XI, Appendix VIII and ASME Section V, Article 4.
In accordance with French decree on pressure equipment (ESP)
the magnet structures are not classied as pressure equipment
(pressure is not a signicant design factor). Piping and manifold
components have to comply with the ESP requirements, and they
are classied as Sound Engineering Practice (SEP) and Category 1
pressure equipment.

4. Brief description of codes used for the ITER components

4.2. Structural Design Criteria for In-vessel Components

4.1. Magnet Structural Design Criteria

The ITER Structural Design Criteria for In-vessel Components

(SDC-IC) [7] contains rules for structural design of the blanket,
divertor and in-vessel parts of various ITER systems (see Fig. 1).
The development of the SDC-IC was undertaken as a collaboration between the four ITER Parties of Europe, Japan, the Russian
Federation, and the United States. The SDC-IC are based on the
RCC-MR code, as a convenient starting point, and extensive modications have been provided to include unique structure of ITER
components, useful features of other codes (in particular ASME),
and national requirements to address the unique features of these
components.
These criteria were developed because existing industrial codes
are not applicable to the ITER in-vessel components. The structure
and the environment of the in-vessel components of ITER have a
number of unique features. In particular, the neutron irradiation
has a number of effects on material properties, including:

For the design of the ITER magnet structures the specic Magnet
Structural Design Criteria have been developed [6]. These design
criteria result from extensive assessment of the features of various existing codes and standards (ASME, Section III, Section VIII,
ASME B31.3, API 579, etc.). Existing codes generally exclude the low
temperature range (there are very recently developed European
harmonized standards for cryogenic application, but the experience on their application is limited); however, the methodologies
in these codes are in many cases applicable.
The needs for development of the specic design criteria arise
from the unique features of the ITER magnet structure such as:

The magnets operate at 477 K, mostly 4 K. Compared to high

temperature, yield and ultimate strength are increased but fracture toughness is similar. Fracture is relatively much more
important than plastic yielding as a failure mode.
The loads have a strong cyclic component.
Large material thicknesses, up to 0.4 m, carry high stresses and
include welds.
In-service inspection of the magnets is not possible except for a
few limited regions.
There is extensive use of non-metallic materials especially for
bonding and compressive load transmission.
Some magnet components combine structural support with an
electrical function (usually high voltage operation) and the structural limits are controlled also by the electrical functionality.
Electromagnetic loads cause 3D stress systems, complicated by
contact interfaces, which generally need nite element analysis
to resolve. Analytical approximations are generally inadequate.
There is no previous experience of such a design.

time dependent material properties,

embrittlement of the material (reduced ductility and fracture
toughness),
irradiation-induced creep,
swelling (at specic conditions).
The geometry of the various components is non-axisymmetric:
The general conguration of the in-vessel components (blanket,
divertor) consists of the double-walled and rib-reinforced structures and numerous large penetrations.
The local conguration of the components, e.g., the shape of the
modules and the arrangement of the cooling channels is irregular.
Thermal and electromagnetic loads are applied in various directions.

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V. Barabash et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 85 (2010) 12901295

SDC-IC consists of the main Design Criteria document and three

appendices.
The main document includes denitions and classications of
different damage and failure modes, type of stresses, joints, thermal creep phenomena, buckling, etc. The other parts of document
include design rules for general single layer homogeneous structures at low and elevated temperatures, rules for welded joints and
rules for bolts. Design rules for multilayer heterogeneous structures
are also included, but they are limited to only low temperature
application.
Rules for irradiated materials are described. For materials with
reduced ductility, secondary and peak stresses become more
important. The SDC-IC includes direct limits on secondary and peak
stresses that account for both the stress and strain limits of the
material. SDC-IC incorporates rules to prevent failure by plastic ow
localization, to limit the elastically calculated primary plus secondary membrane stress intensity. In a similar fashion, to prevent
local failure due to exhaustion of ductility, the primary membrane
plus bending plus secondary stress is limited. Both limits depend
on uniform elongation of material after irradiation.
Appendix A, Materials design limit data, currently includes the
data for the following materialsaustenitic steel 316L(N)-IG (ITER
Grade), CuCrZr alloy, dispersion strengthened Cu alloy, Alloy 718,
Ti-6Al-4 V alloy, precipitation hardened steel 660, beryllium, tungsten and carbon bre composites. Additional materials such as NiAl
bronze, austenitic steel XM-19, standard austenitic 316L steel, pure
Cu are being included in the new version.
Appendix B, Guideline for analysis, provides analysis methods
and guidelines of the design rules of SDC-IC. The primary intent of
this document is to facilitate the designer/analysts job by providing widely accepted analysis guidelines and interpretation of the
design rules.
Appendix C, Rationale or justication of the rules, includes the
background information including references to literature that provided the foundation for the rules proposed in the SDC-IC.
Currently the scope of SDC-IC is limited to criteria related to
design. Further improvements of the design rules are planned. It is
considered that standard manufacturing rules (e.g. welding, forming, non-destructive examination) are based on EU harmonized
standards. The consistency of design rule and manufacturing standards is being demonstrated.

4.3. Features of RCC-MR, edition 2007

The RCC-MR code was originally developed and published in
1985 as a complete set of design and construction rules for mechanical equipment of Fast Breeder Reactors Nuclear Islands including
high temperature applications.
On request of the ITER EU DA (EFDA) the scope of the code was
enlarged to include the ITER vacuum vessel (VV). The main motivation was to dene the set of rules for the ITER vacuum vessel
based on a French/European code (instead of ASME as was originally
planned) in case of ITER construction in France.
The fourth edition of the RCC-MR code has been issued in French
and English versions in October 2007 by AFCEN [9]. In addition to
including in the scope the ITER VV, the issue of the new 2007 edition
was driven by needs of:

- application in the code of European harmonized standards

instead of French AFNOR standards, where applicable;
- introduction of requirements of the ESP and ESPN;
- improvement of the design rules based on R&D results.
- Recent developments of RCC-MR code are summarised in Ref.
[10].

For application of the RCC-MR code to the ITER vacuum vessel,

the following features shall be noticed:
Materials: from the beginning of the VV design development,
austenitic steel type 316L(N)-IG has been selected based on steel
with controlled nitrogen from the RCC-MR code, edition 1985.
The main driving force for the selection of this material from
similar austenitic steels (316L, 316LN, etc.) is its high minimum
tensile mechanical properties (combined with good toughness),
that results in high stress intensity. In RCC-MR edition 2007 the
steel grade is X2CrNiMo17-12-2 with controlled nitrogen content. 316L(N)-IG has specic requirements for Co, Nb and Ta and
lower limit for S and P. The full set of data for design assessment
is available in Appendix A3, property group S1.
The design of the ITER VV is a box type of structure. Special rules
for box types of structure have been developed in previous editions of RCC-MR for Class 1 components. In edition 2007 similar
rules for Class 2 components have been introduced.
Based on features of box type structure, four categories of welded
joints for VV have been proposed. For these different categories,
there are different authorized types of welded joints and different
requirements for non-destructive testing.
RCC-MR edition 2007 includes rules for different type of bolted
joints:
Rules for preloaded bolts joining parts of pressure retaining
boundaries, applicable in case of high values of preload;
Rules for preloaded bolts which do not join parts of pressure
retaining boundaries.
Rules for non-preloaded bolts which can be used for supports
of pipes or components.
Appendix 18 of RCC-MR introduces the requirements of the
Pressure Equipment Directive and the Order on nuclear pressure
equipment.
Appendix A19 gives complementary requirements specic for
the design of the ITER vacuum vessel. The vacuum vessel is classied as a Class 2 welded box structure which allows to reect
the double shell assembly and to categorize the type of authorized
welded joints. Section RC3800 covers components with double
shell and internal ribs connecting the two shells with or without
a leak tightness function. Special requirements are also dened
for permanent attachments which are non-pressure retaining (e.g.
copper coating).
In accordance with ESPN, the ITER vacuum vessel is classied as
a multi-chamber equipment with pressure Category IV and nuclear
level N2. Separately cooled upper and equatorial ports are Category
III and IV and level N3 equipment.
4.4. Use of ASME codes for pressure and nuclear pressure
equipment
After introduction of the Pressure Equipment Directive the question about application of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
and conformity with Essential Safety Requirements has been extensively discussed. ASME published a guide to ASME stamp holders
explaining how to meet ESR using ASME Section VIII Division 1 [11].
The application of other codes (ASME BPV code Section VIII
Division 2 for pressure vessels, ASME B31.3 code for pressure piping, ASME B73.1 specication for pumps, ASME B73.2 specication
for pumps, ASME B16.34 standard for valves, ASME B31.3 code
Appendix X and EJMA Standard for bellows) is being analyzed to
demonstrate the conformity with ESR for pressure and nuclear
pressure equipment. The goal of this activity is to provide clear
guidelines to full ESR while guaranteeing the required project
safety requirements.

V. Barabash et al. / Fusion Engineering and Design 85 (2010) 12901295

1295

4.5. Technical specications for non-metallic materials

5. Conclusion

The rst connement barrier of the ITER plasma chamber

includes windows and other elements with non-metallic materials.
These materials are fused silica, quartz, sapphire, alumina, chemical
vapour deposited diamond etc. Window Assemblies and other elements with non-metallic materials are part of the unpressurized
area of the radioactivity connement barrier, with safety related
functions. Non-metallic materials are generally not included in
pressure vessel codes and there is no existing industrial standard
that species the criteria for the design, the manufacturing, and
the testing of these parts and components that can be directly
applied for ITER. Windows and other non-metallic elements shall
therefore be incorporated in the ITER primary connement barrier
according to the requirements of the ITER Practice for replaceable
non-metallic windows.
The ITER Practice for replaceable non-metallic windows is under
development. It comprises a Technical specication document,
prescribing all requirements for acceptable implementation of
non-metallic parts, and an Engineering justication document containing a detailed support of the soundness of the criteria and
procedures of the Technical specication. The Technical specication prescribes the requirements for design, construction, testing,
non-destructive examination (NDE), installation, inspection, inservice inspection, monitoring and maintenance for acceptable
continuous implementation of non-metallic parts of the connement barrier.
Additionally, the Justication document is supported by the
existing practice document that is the result of an in depth literature and industrial search. This comprises a review of previous and
existing practices in fusion machines, including experiences and
failure analysis. The Engineering justication document prescribes
the content of the supporting R&D and qualication document that
denes R&D required to validate the dened criteria. This document
indicates the tests that have already been performed; references to
R&D tasks and related documents, and includes list those R&D that
are still required.

ITER will be rst fusion facility which is under construction

in accordance with safety and licensing requirements for a Basic
Nuclear Installation in France. To full these requirements a coherent set of Codes and Standards for various components is identied.
ITER, as unique facility, has many types of mechanical equipment. The multi-code approach is applied in the selection of the
codes for the ITER components. Industrial available codes are generally selected for the ITER components. Among these codes ASME,
RCC-MR, and EU harmonized standards are proposed for various equipment. For equipment which are not covered by existing
codes, additional technical specications are being developed and
they include Magnet Structural design Criteria, Structural Design
Criteria for In-vessel Components, Specication for non-metallic
components and Design by experiment rules. Due to application of
various C&S, signicant attention is being paid to the denition of
the interfaces between different components and systems which is
needed for the overall integration and operation of the ITER facility.
In general the basic regulatory documents do not specify particular design and manufacturing codes. The selected C&S for pressure
and nuclear pressure equipment shall provide the conformity with
the Essential Safety Requirements, which are formulated for various type of pressure and nuclear pressure equipment of the ITER
facility. ITER Organization as a nuclear operator shall apply French
nuclear regulations, especially the Quality Order, which is applicable for design, construction, operation and decommissioning of
ITER.

4.6. Design by experiment

Many ITER components (e.g. divertor, blanket) operate at very
specic conditions under intensive particle and heat ux, neutron irradiation, etc. Due to design requirements these components
include joints of dissimilar materials such as Beryllium/Copper
alloy, Tungsten/Copper alloys, Carbon Fibre Components/Copper
Alloys, Copper/Stainless steel, etc. Taking into account that there
is no existing code addressing these types of components, these
joints are being designed based on design-by-experiment rules.
These rules are based on practices which are used in various fusion
facilities and supported by extensive ITER R&D program. Basically
these rules include:
- Development and selection of suitable joining technologies by
manufacture and extensive testing of small scale mock-ups
(Be/Cu, W/Cu, C/Cu, etc.);
- Qualication of most promising technologies by testing of design
representative mock-ups including non-destructive examination, determination of allowable defects, and maximum allowable
heat uxes;
- Final manufacture of the components and application of an extensive qualication program before installation in the ITER.
For these components technical specication documents are
under preparation and are part of the Procurement Arrangement
documentation.

Acknowledgement
This paper was prepared as an account of work by or for the
ITER Organization. The Members of the Organization are the Peoples Republic of China, the European Atomic Energy Community,
Republic of India, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation,
and the United States of America. The views and opinions expressed
herein do not necessarily reect those of the Members or any
agency thereof. Dissemination of the information in this paper is
governed by the applicable terms of the ITER Joint Implementation
Agreement.
References
[1] C. Alejaldre, J. Elbez-Uzan, P. Reynard, L. Rodriguez-Rodrigo, N. Taylor, ITER, a
Fusion Nuclear Installation, presented at 9th IAEA Technical Meeting on Fusion
Power Plant Safety, 1517 July, Vienna, 2009.
[2] Order dated 12th December 2005 concerning nuclear pressure equipment
(ESPN).
[3] French Decree No. 99-1046 dated 13th December 1999 concerning pressure
equipment (amended by further Decrees in 2003 and 2007) and Order dated
21st December 1999 concerning classication and conformity assessment of
pressure equipment.
[4] Order dated 10th August 1984 Concerning Quality of Design, Construction and
Operation of Basic Nuclear Installation.
[5] Order dated 15th March 2000 relative to the operation of pressure equipment.
[6] Magnet Structural Design Criteria, Part 1: Main Structural Components and
Welds [ITER D 2FMHHS v1.1] Part II: Magnet Windings (Radial Plates and Conductors) with High and Low Voltage Insulation and Epoxy Filler [ITER D 2ES43V
v1.1] Part III: Bolts, Keys, Supports and Special Components [ITER D 2FKTTG v1]
Part IV: Cryogenic Piping [ITER D 2FDCA3 v1.1].
[7] Structural Design Criteria In-vessel Components (SDC-IC), [ITER 222RHC].
[8] ITER Technical Specications for Components with Non- Metallic Parts, 2010,
in press.
[9] Design and Construction Rules for Mechanical Components of Nuclear Installation, RCC-MR, French Association for the Design, Construction and Operating
Supervision of the Equipment for Electro-Nuclear Boilers (AFCEN), edition
2007.
[10] C. Escaravage, D. Bonne, O. Gelineau et al., Recent Development of RCC-MR Code
for High Temperature Reactor and ITER Project, Proc. of 2008 ASME Pressure
Vessels and Piping Division Conference, paper PVP2008-61527.
[11] Guide for ASME Stamp Holders, Use of ASME Sec. VIII, Div. 1 to Meet the EC
Pressure Equipment Directive (97/23/EC), ASME, July 2, 2001.