Critical issues of the structural integrity of the ITER-FEAT vacuum vessel

In the ITER-FEAT, the most severe loading conditions for the VV are the toroidal field coil fast discharge (TFCFD) and its load combination with electromagnetic loads due to a plasma vertical instability, which cause high compressive stresses in the VV inboard wall and increase the risk of buckling. Detailed analyses need to be performed to assess the stress level at the geometrical discontinuities and where concentrated loads are applied. The nuclear heating and the presence of gaps between the blanket modules cause concentrated nuclear heat loads. This paper describes the major structural issues of the ITER vacuum vessel (VV), and summarises the preliminary results of structural analyses