Overview on fabrication and joining of plasma facing and high heat flux materials for ITER

This paper presents the results of the R&D program on the development of the joining technologies, including non-destructive inspection, for the high heat flux components carried out by the three ITER Participating Teams. Reliability requirements and design criteria are also discussed. The large amount of R&D performed within the ITER project has resulted in the development of suitable technologies, which meet or even exceed the design requirements and form a solid basis for the possible future construction of the ITER machine. However, further developments are still needed for the consolidation of the positive results with improving the reliability of the joints and reducing the manufacturing cost.