Fusion reactor that employs liquid metal shower
In a magnetic field confinement fusion reactor, we maintain the high-temperature plasma through the magnetic field lines by floating the plasma apart from a vessel. However, there forms inevitably a location where the plasma hits. In such a place, in order to receive the heat from the plasma a heat absorption device called the divertor is mounted. In current plasma experimental devices, including the Large Helical Device (LHD) at the National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS), a solid divertor is typically used, where the plasma is guided to a plate or block composed of carbon or tungsten and those plates or blocks are cooled by water. In the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), too, a solid divertor composed of tungsten blocks that will be cooled by water is being adopted.