jamesr wrote: I would think a lot will be learned from the ITER like wall experiments due to take place in JET soon

I know the plasma conditions are somewhat different in a tokamak, but the fundamentals of high energy ions colliding with the wall/electrode are similar.
They are looking at tungsten coated carbon fibre componsites for the divertor plates which take the brunt of the ion flux, and berylium on inconel (a nickel alloy) for the rest of the wall.

The goal in the tokamak is to stop high Z (atomic number) materials being sputtered or boiled off the surface and polluting the plasma. High Z ions in the plasma will result in higher bremstrahlung radiation losses and cool the plasma.

see Overview of the ITER-like wall project G F Matthews et al (2007)

Brian, the reason I keep bringing up the co-generation is that the thermal energy is over 50% of the energy produced by the reaction. Also, at this point, FF is a lot more useful for making cheap(er) heat than cheap(er) electricity. The higher we get above unity, the more valid your viewpoint becomes.

Jamesr, Focus Fusion is a Dense Plasma Focus designed to burn pB-11 to harvest ions and X-rays in seperate direct conversion processes. ITER is a low density plasma designed to burn Dueterium to create neutrons that will make steam like in a conventional fission plant. The two design philosophies and resulting machinery reflects this. ITER is useful for studying plasma confinement and long-duration burns, not for producing cheap or safe electricity.