Hydrogen, the first, the lightest and the smallest element of the Periodic Table is important in every corner of our
Universe and our terrestrial micro-world. Isotopes and compounds of hydrogen have paramount importance and
countless applications in our daily life. They have also a great potential to be globally used for hydrogen energy systems:
fuel cells, metal hydrides and thermonuclear fusion. In all these cases, the progress highly depends on deep knowledge and
understanding of processes underlying the interaction of hydrogen with matter.
Hydrogen isotopes are essential as thermonuclear fuel and the consequences of their interaction with fusion reactor
materials belong to the most important and challenging issues when the deuterium-tritium operation of a reactor-class
device is considered. The major point is related to processes leading to a long term retention of hydrogen isotopes in
plasma facing components, the so-called tritium inventory. Therefore, diffusion, chemical reactivity of the isotopes with
materials and, in particular, problems connected with the radioactivity of tritium trigger world-wide studies aiming at the
understanding of transport and re-deposition of eroded wall material. The ultimate goal is a proper assessment of the
inventory and the development of methods for efficient removal of tritium retained in the reactor wall. These topics are
addressed at all major conferences on controlled thermonuclear fusion research and at topical meetings focused on a
review of the most recent ideas and progress made in this field. It is no wonder that there were two series of workshops
dedicated to this appealing subject. An international Workshop on "Tritium Effects in Plasma Facing Components" was
organised every second year as a satellite symposium to the International Conference on Plasma–Surface Interactions in
Controlled Fusion Devices (PSI conferences). Beginning in 1992 it was held in Livermore, Nagoya, Ispra, Santa Fe and in
Stockholm (in 2000 organised as an International Workshop on "Hydrogen Isotopes in Solids"). The history of the
second series, International Workshop on "Hydrogen Isotope Recycling at Plasma Facing Materials in Fusion
Reactors", also began in 1992 on the initiative of scientists from the University of Tokyo and from the Bonch-Bruevich
University in St. Petersburg. Originally, the symposium was organised under the name "Interactions of Fuel Particles
with Fusion Materials". The meetings were held annually either in Japan or in Russia until 1999 and then, in 2000 and
2001, they were organised at the Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois, USA. In 2002, in our world of ever expanding
number of conferences, a rare event occurred: the committees of the two series decided to merge having a combined
workshop which would both continue the tradition of the two series and would also create a forum for more deep and
concentrated discussion. This time it was in Tokyo in the charming scenery of the Hongo Campus at the University of
Tokyo. The Workshop organised prior to the 15th PSI (Gifu n/b Nagoya) gathered 70 participants from twelve countries.
Authors of invited talks, oral and poster presentations gave an overview and detailed description of processes related to
the retention, migration and recycling of hydrogen isotopes on various materials being of interest for a fusion reactor:
carbon, beryllium and high-Z metals. Experimental and theoretical approaches have been presented. These were results
from major fusion experiments (JET, JT-60, TFTR, ASDEX, TEXTOR) and also obtained under laboratory conditions.
Carbon is a major first wall component that has been selected to be used in the bottom of the ITER divertor. Chemical
erosion of carbon by hydrogen followed by the re-deposition of hydrocarbons on wall structures is the driving force for a
build-up of carbonaceous films (called "co-deposits") accumulating significant quantities of fuel. Over many years the
community has examined the morphology and properties of co-deposits. Despite extensive trial of different methods (e.g.,
based on plasmo-chemical and isotope exchange processes) little progress has been achieved in the past towards the
efficient in-situ decomposition of co-deposits accompanied by a significant tritium removal rate. We are glad that breakthrough
results obtained with laser-assisted ablation have been presented for TFTR tiles during this Workshop. The
successful proof of principle paves the way for testing the laser cleaning method on plasma facing components of JET.
Other important issues regarding the recent studies of co-deposits are those related to: (a) in-situ determination of their
growth rate by means of quartz microbalance devices and (b) mapping of co-deposits distribution, thickness and the
content of retained fuel on the entire walls of various machines. New imaging techniques allow very precise mapping and
measurements of tritium produced in devices fuelled with deuterium (D–D reaction). As a result of these studies we are
able to make more and more accurate assessments of a global material transport in controlled fusion devices. Significant
progress has also been reported in studies of hydrogen interaction with high-Z metals.
We want to express our deep gratitude to the sponsor of the Workshop: The Atomic Energy Society of Japan. We are
also grateful to the staff members of the University of Tokyo and Nagoya University for their support in the organisation
and all technical matters associated with the preparation of conference materials. The sponsorship and the great
assistance in organisation helped both to keep the registration fee low and to make the meeting fruitful and effective. It is
our pleasure to publish the proceedings of this symposium which brought so many new and interesting results. We thank
all the participants for their contributions and we thankthe referees of submitted papers. Thank you all for your hard
work and kind co-operation. We are looking forward to the next meeting planned for June 2003 in Helsinki.