Manufacture of blanket shield modules for ITER

A research and development programme for the ITER blanket shield modules has been implemented in Europe to provide input for the design and the manufacture of the full-scale production components. It involves in particular the fabrication and testing of mock-ups (small scale and medium scale) and full-scale prototypes of shield blocks (SB) and first wall (FW) panels. The manufacturing feasibility of FW panels has been demonstrated for two copper alloy candidates. Two designs have been developed for the manufacture of the SB, one for a conventional fabrication route and one for a fabrication route based on the hot isostatic press technology. This paper presents the fabrication routes developed in Europe for the manufacture of the ITER Shield modules.