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Liquid metal walls have the potential solve to first-wall problems for fusion reactors, such as heat load and erosion of dry walls, neutron damage and activation, and tritium inventory and breeding. In the near term, such walls can serve as the basis for schemes to stabilize magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modes. Furthermore, the low recycling characteristics of lithium walls can be used for particle control. Liquid lithium experiments have already begun in the Current Drive eXperiment-Upgrade (CDX-U). Plasmas limited with a toroidally localized limiter have been investigated, and experiments with a fully toroidal lithium limiter are in progress. A liquid surface module (LSM) has been proposed for the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). In this larger ST, plasma currents are in excess of 1 MA and a typical discharge radius is about 68 cm. The primary motivation for the LSM is particle control, and options for mounting it on the horizontal midplane or in the divertor region are under consideration. A key consideration is the magnitude of the eddy currents at the location of a liquid lithium surface. During plasma start up and disruptions, the force due to such currents and the magnetic field can force a conducting liquid off of the surface behind it. The Tokamak Simulation Code (TSC) has been used to estimate the magnitude of this effect. This program is a two dimensional, time dependent, free boundary simulation code that solves the MHD equations for an axisymmetric toroidal plasma. From calculations that match actual ST equilibria, the eddy current densities can be determined at the locations of the liquid lithium. Initial results have shown that the effects could be significant, and ways of explicitly treating toroidally local structures are under investigation.

The concept of a flowing lithium first wall for a fusion reactor may lead to a significant advance in reactor design, since it could virtually eliminate the concerns with power density and erosion, tritium retention, and cooling associated with solid walls. Sputtering and erosion tests are currently underway in the PISCES device at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). To complement this effort, plasma interaction questions in a toroidal plasma geometry will be addressed by a proposed new groundbreaking experiment in the Current Drive eXperiment-Upgrade (CDX-U) spherical torus (ST). The CDX-U plasma is intensely heated and well diagnosed, and an extensive liquid lithium plasma-facing surface will be used for the first time with a toroidal plasma. Since CDX-U is a small ST, only approximately1 liter or less of lithium is required to produce a toroidal liquid lithium limiter target, leading to a quick and cost-effective experiment.

Fusion energy is a potential energy source for the future with plentiful fuel supplies and is expected to have benign environmental impact. The issue with fusion energy has been the scientific feasibility, and recently the cost of this approach. The key technical milestone for fusion is the achievement of a self-sustained fusion fire, ignition, in the laboratory. Despite 40 years of research and the expenditure of almost $20B worldwide, a self-sustained fusion fire has not yet been produced in the laboratory. The fusion program needs a test bed, preferably more than one, where the dynamics of a burning plasma can be studied, optimized and understood so that the engineering requirements for an engineering test reactor can be determined. Engineering and physics concepts must be developed within the next decade that will lead to an affordable burning plasma experiment if fusion is going to be perceived as making progress toward a potential long range energy source.