Status of EC solid breeder blanket designs and R and D for demo fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proust, E.; Anzidei, L.; Moons, F.

1994-01-01

Within the European Community Fusion Technology Program two solid breeder blankets for a DEMO reactor are being developed. The two blankets have various features in common: helium as coolant and as tritium purge gas, the martensitic steel MANET as structural material and beryllium as neutron multiplier. The configurations of the two blankets are however different: in the B.I.T. (Breeder Inside Tube) concept the breeder materials are LiAlO 2 or Li 2 ZrO 3 in the form of annular pellets contained in tubes surrounded by beryllium blocks, the coolant helium being outside the tubes, whereas in the B.O.T. (Breeder out of Tube) the breeder and multiplier material are Li 4 SiO 4 and beryllium pebbles forming a mixed bed placed outside the tubes containing the coolant helium. The main critical issues for both blankets are the behavior of the breeder ceramics and of beryllium under irradiation and the tritium control. Other issues are the low temperature irradiation induced embrittlement of MANET, the mechanical effects caused by major plasma disruptions, and safety and reliability. The R and D work concentrate on these issues. The development of martensitic steels including MANET is part of a separate program. Breeder ceramics and beryllium irradiations have been so far performed for conditions which do not cover the peak values injected in the DEMO blankets. Further irradiations in thermal reactors and in fast reactors, especially for beryllium, are required. An effective tritium control requires the development of permeation barriers and/or of methods of oxidation of the tritium in the main helium cooling systems. First promising results have been obtained also in field of mechanical effects from plasma disruptions and safety and reliability, however further work is required in the reliability field and to validate the codes for the calculations of the plasma disruption effects. (authors). 8 figs., 2 tabs., 53 refs

A solid-breeder blanket and power conversion system for the Mirror Advanced Reactor Study (MARS)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bullis, R.; Clarkson, I.

1983-01-01

A solid-breeder blanket has been designed for a commercial fusion power reactor based on the tandem mirror concept (MARS). The design utilizes lithium oxide, cooled by helium which powers a conventional steam electric generating cycle. Maintenance and fabricability considerations led to a modular configuration 6 meters long which incorporates two magnets, shield, blanket and first wall. The modules are arranged to form the 150 meter long reactor central cell. Ferritic steel is used for the module primary structure. The lithium oxide is contained in thin-walled vanadium alloy tubes. A tritium breeding ratio of 1.25 and energy multiplication of 1.1 is predicted. The blanket design appears feasible with only a modest advance in current technology

Irradiaiton facilities for testing solid and liquid blanket breeder materials with in-situ tritium release measurements in the HFR Petten

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conrad, R.; Debarberis, L.

1991-01-01

Lithium-based tritium breeder materials for solid and liquid fusion reactor blanket concepts are being tested in the High Flux Reactor (HFR) Petten with in-situ tritium release measurements since 1985, within the European Fusion Technology Programme and the BEATRIX-I programme. Ceramic breeder materials are being tested in the EXOTIC and COMPLIMENT experimental programmes and the liquid breeder material, Pb-17Li, is being tested in the LIBRETTO experimental programme. The in-pile experiments are performed with irradiation facilities developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) Petten. The irradiation vehicles are multi-channel rigs. The sample holders consist of independent, fully instrumented and triple contained capsules. The out-of-pile experimental equipment consist of twelve independent circuits for on-line tritium release and tritium permeation measurements and eight independent circuits for temperature control. The experimental achievements obtained so far contribute to the selection of candidate tritium breeder materials for blanket concepts of near future machines like NET, ITER and DEMO. (orig.)

Design and analysis of breeding blanket with helium cooled solid breeder for ITER-TBM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Tao; Feng Kaiming; Chen Zhi; Wang Xiaoyu

2007-01-01

Test blanket module (TBM) is one of important components in ITER. Some of related blanket technologies of future fusion, such as tritium self-sufficiency, the exaction of high-grade heat, design criteria and safety requirements and environmental impacts, will be demonstrated in ITER-TBM. In ITER device, the three equatorial ports have allocated for TBM testing. China had proposed to develop independently the ITER-TBM with helium cooled solid breeder in 12th meeting of test blanket workgroup (TBWG-12). In this work, the preliminary design and analysis for Chinese HCSB TBM will be carried out. The TBM must be contains the function of the first wall, breeding blanket, shield and structure. Finally, in the period of preliminary investigation, HCSB TBM design adopt modularization concept which is helium as coolant and tritium purge gas, ferritic/martensitic steel as structural material, Lithium orthosilicate (Li 4 SiO 4 ) as tritium breeder, beryllium pebble as neutron multiplier. TBM is allocated in standard vertical frame port. HCSB TBM consist of first wall, backplate, breeding sub-modules, caps, grid and support plate, and breeding sub-modules is arranged by layout of 2 x 6 in blanket box. In this paper, main components of HCSB TBM will be described in detail, also performance analysis of main components have been completed. (authors)

Nuclear and thermal analyses of supercritical-water-cooled solid breeder blanket for fusion DEMO reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yanagi, Yoshihiko; Sato, Satoshi; Enoeda, Mikio; Hatano, Toshihisa; Kikuchi, Shigeto; Kuroda, Toshimasa; Kosaku, Yasuo; Ohara, Yoshihiro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Naka, Ibaraki (Japan). Naka Fusion Research Establishment

2001-11-01

Within a design study of a fusion DEMO reactor aiming at demonstrating technologies of fusion power plant, supercritical water is applied as a coolant of solid breeder blanket to attain high thermal efficiency. The blanket has multi-layer composed of solid breeder pebbles (Li{sub 2}O) and neutron multiplier pebbles (Be) which are radially separated by cooling panels. The first wall and the breeding region are cooled by supercritical water below and above the pseudo-critical temperature, respectively. Temperature distribution and tritium breeding ratio (TBR) have been estimated by one-dimensional nuclear and thermal calculations. The local TBR as high as 1.47 has been obtained after optimization of temperature distribution in the breeder region under the following conditions: neutron wall loading of 5 MW/m{sup 2}, {sup 6}Li enrichment of 30% and coolant temperature at inlet of breeder region of 380degC. In the case of the higher coolant temperature 430degC of the breeder region the local TBR was reduced to be 1.40. This means that the net TBR higher than 1.0 could be expected with the supercritical-water-cooled blanket, whose temperature distribution in the breeder region would be optimized by following the coolant temperature, and where a coverage of the breeder region is assumed to be 70%. (author)

Design and safety analysis of the helium cooled solid breeder blanket for CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Shuai; Zhou, Guangming; Lv, Zhongliang; Jin, Cheng; Chen, Hongli [University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui (China). School of Nuclear Science and Technology

2016-05-15

This paper reports the design and safety analysis results of the helium cooled solid breeder blanket of the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). Materials selection and basic structure of the blanket have been presented. Performance analysis including neutronics analysis and thermo-mechanical analysis has shown good results. And the safety analysis of the blanket under Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA) conditions has been described. Results showed the current design can deal well with the selected accident scenarios.

Neutronic optimization of a LiAlO2 solid breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levin, P.; Ghoniem, N.M.

1986-02-01

In this report, a pressurized lobular blanket configuration is neutronically optimized. Among the features of this blanket configuration are the use of beryllium and LiAlO 2 solid breeder pins in a cross-flow configuration in a helium coolant. One-dimensional neutronic optimization calculations are performed to maximize the tritium breeding ratio (TER). The procedure involves spatial allocations of Be, LiAlO 2 , 9-C (ferritic steel), and He; in such a way as to maximize the TBR subject to several material, engineering and geometrical constraints. A TBR of 1.17 is achieved for a relatively thin blanket (approx. = 43 cm depth), and consistency with all imposed constraints

Proceedings of the fifteenth international workshop on ceramic breeder blanket interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanigawa, Hisashi; Enoeda, Mikio

2010-03-01

This report is the Proceedings of 'the Fifteenth International Workshop on Ceramic Breeder Blanket Interactions' which was held as a workshop on ceramic breeders Under the IEA Implementing Agreement on the Nuclear Technology of Fusion Reactors. This workshop was held in Sapporo, Japan on 3-4, Sept. 2009. Twenty six participants from EU, Japan, India, Russia and USA attended the workshop. The scope of the workshop included 1) evolutions in ceramic breeder blanket design, 2) progress in ceramic breeder material development, 3) irradiation testing, 4) breeder material properties, 5) out-of-pile pebble bed experiment, 6) modeling of the thermal, mechanical and tritium transfer behavior of pebble beds and 7) interfacing issues of solid breeder blanket development. By this workshop, advance of key technologies for solid breeder blanket development was shared among the participants. Also, desired direction of further investigation and development was recognized. The 20 of the presented papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Proceedings of the fifteenth international workshop on ceramic breeder blanket interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tanigawa, Hisashi; Enoeda, Mikio [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Fusion Research and Development Directorate, Naka, Ibaraki (Japan)

2010-03-15

This report is the Proceedings of 'the Fifteenth International Workshop on Ceramic Breeder Blanket Interactions' which was held as a workshop on ceramic breeders Under the IEA Implementing Agreement on the Nuclear Technology of Fusion Reactors. This workshop was held in Sapporo, Japan on 3-4, Sept. 2009. Twenty six participants from EU, Japan, India, Russia and USA attended the workshop. The scope of the workshop included 1) evolutions in ceramic breeder blanket design, 2) progress in ceramic breeder material development, 3) irradiation testing, 4) breeder material properties, 5) out-of-pile pebble bed experiment, 6) modeling of the thermal, mechanical and tritium transfer behavior of pebble beds and 7) interfacing issues of solid breeder blanket development. By this workshop, advance of key technologies for solid breeder blanket development was shared among the participants. Also, desired direction of further investigation and development was recognized. The 20 of the presented papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Status report. KfK contribution to the development of DEMO-relevant test blankets for NET/ITER. Pt. 2: BOT helium cooled solid breeder blanket. Vol. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalle Donne, M.; Boccaccini, L.V.; Bojarsky, E.; Deckers, H.; Dienst, W.; Doerr, L.; Fischer, U.; Giese, H.; Guenther, E.; Haefner, H.E.; Hofmann, P.; Kappler, F.; Knitter, R.; Kuechle, M.; Moellendorf, U. von; Norajitra, P.; Penzhorn, R.D.; Reimann, G.; Reiser, H.; Schulz, B.; Schumacher, G.; Schwenk-Ferrero, A.; Sordon, G.; Tsukiyama, T.; Wedemeyer, H.; Weimar, P.; Werle, H.; Wiegner, E.; Zimmermann, H.

1991-10-01

The BOT (Breeder Outside Tube) Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Blanket for a fusion Demo reactor and the status of the R and D program is presented. This is the KfK contribution to the European Program for the Demo relevant test blankets to be irradiated in NET/ITER. Volume 1 (KfK 4928) contains the summary, volume 2 (KfK 4929) a more detailed version of the report. In both volumes are described the reasons for the selected design, the reference blanket design for the Demo reactor, the design of the test blanket including the ancillary systems together with the present status of the relative R and D program in the fields of neutronic and thermohydraulic calculations, of the electromagnetic forces caused by disruptions, of the development and irradiation of the ceramic breeder material, of the tritium release and recovery, and of the technological investigations. An outlook is given on the required R and D program for the BOT Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Blanket prior to tests in NET/ITER and the proposed test program in NET/ITER. (orig.) [de

U.S. technical report for the ITER blanket/shield: A. blanket: Topical report, July 1990--November 1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

Three solid-breeder water-cooled blanket concepts have been developed for ITER based on a multilayer configuration. The primary difference among the concepts is in the fabricated form of breeder and multiplier. All the concepts have beryllium for neutron multiplication and solid-breeder temperature control. The blanket design does not use helium gaps or insulator material to control the solid breeder temperature. Lithium oxide (Li 2 O) and lithium zirconate (Li 2 ZrO 3 ) are the primary and the backup breeder materials, respectively. The lithium-6 enrichment is 95%. The use of high lithium-6 enrichment reduces the solid breeder volume required in the blanket and consequently the total tritium inventory in the solid breeder material. Also, it increases the blanket capability to accommodate power variation. The multilayer blanket configuration can accommodate up to a factor of two change in the neutron wall loading without violating the different design guidelines. The blanket material forms are sintered products and packed bed of small pebbles. The first concept has a sintered product material (blocks) for both the beryllium multiplier and the solid breeder. The second concept, the common ITER blanket, uses a packed bed breeder and beryllium blocks. The last concept is similar to the first except for the first and the last beryllium zones. Two small layers of beryllium pebbles are located behind the first wall and the back of the last beryllium zone to reduce the total inventory of the beryllium material and to improve the blanket performance. The design philosophy adopted for the blanket is to produce the necessary tritium required for the ITER operation and to operate at power reactor conditions as much as possible. Also, the reliability and the safety aspects of the blanket are enhanced by using low-pressure water coolant and the separation of the tritium purge flow from the coolant system by several barriers

Processing and waste disposal needs for fusion breeder blankets system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finn, P.A.; Vogler, S.

1988-01-01

We evaluated the waste disposal and recycling requirements for two types of fusion breeder blanket (solid and liquid). The goal was to determine if breeder blanket waste can be disposed of in shallow land burial, the least restrictive method under U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations. Described in this paper are the radionuclides expected in fusion blanket materials, plans for reprocessing and disposal of blanket components, and estimates for the operating costs involved in waste disposal. (orig.)

U.S. technical report for the ITER blanket/shield: A. blanket: Topical report, July 1990--November 1990

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1995-01-01

Three solid-breeder water-cooled blanket concepts have been developed for ITER based on a multilayer configuration. The primary difference among the concepts is in the fabricated form of breeder and multiplier. All the concepts have beryllium for neutron multiplication and solid-breeder temperature control. The blanket design does not use helium gaps or insulator material to control the solid breeder temperature. Lithium oxide (Li{sub 2}O) and lithium zirconate (Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}) are the primary and the backup breeder materials, respectively. The lithium-6 enrichment is 95%. The use of high lithium-6 enrichment reduces the solid breeder volume required in the blanket and consequently the total tritium inventory in the solid breeder material. Also, it increases the blanket capability to accommodate power variation. The multilayer blanket configuration can accommodate up to a factor of two change in the neutron wall loading without violating the different design guidelines. The blanket material forms are sintered products and packed bed of small pebbles. The first concept has a sintered product material (blocks) for both the beryllium multiplier and the solid breeder. The second concept, the common ITER blanket, uses a packed bed breeder and beryllium blocks. The last concept is similar to the first except for the first and the last beryllium zones. Two small layers of beryllium pebbles are located behind the first wall and the back of the last beryllium zone to reduce the total inventory of the beryllium material and to improve the blanket performance. The design philosophy adopted for the blanket is to produce the necessary tritium required for the ITER operation and to operate at power reactor conditions as much as possible. Also, the reliability and the safety aspects of the blanket are enhanced by using low-pressure water coolant and the separation of the tritium purge flow from the coolant system by several barriers.

Development of advanced blanket materials for solid breeder blanket of fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishitsuka, E.

2002-01-01

Advanced solid breeding blanket design in the DEMO reactor requires the tritium breeder and neutron multiplier that can withstand the high temperature and high dose of neutron irradiation. Therefore, the development of such advanced blanket materials is indispensable. In this paper, the cooperation activities among JAERI, universities and industries in Japan on the development of these advanced materials are reported. Advanced tritium breeding material to prevent the grain growth in high temperature had to be developed because the tritium release behavior degraded by the grain growth. As one of such materials, TiO 2 -doped Li 2 TiO 3 has been studied, and TiO 2 -doped Li 2 TiO 3 pebbles was successfully fabricated. For the advanced neutron multiplier, the beryllium intermetallic compounds that have high melting point and good chemical stability have been studied. Some characterization of Be 12 Ti was studied. The pebble fabrication study for Be 12 Ti was also performed and Be 12 Ti pebbles were successfully fabricated. From these activities, the bright prospect to realize the DEMO blanket by the application of TiO 2 -doped Li 2 TiO 3 and beryllium intermetallic compounds was obtained. (author)

Processing and waste disposal representative for fusion breeder blanket systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finn, P.A.; Vogler, S.

1987-01-01

This study is an evaluation of the waste handling concepts applicable to fusion breeder systems. Its goal is to determine if breeder blanket waste can be disposed of in shallow land burial, the least restrictive method under US Nuclear Regulatory regulations. The radionuclides expected in the materials used in fusion reactor blankets are described, as are plans for reprocessing and disposal of the components of different breeder blankets. An estimate of the operating costs involved in waste disposal is made

Proceedings of the eleventh international workshop on ceramic breeder blanket interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enoeda, Mikio

2004-07-01

This report is the Proceedings of 'the Eleventh International Workshop on Ceramic Breeder Blanket Interactions' which was held as a workshop on ceramic breeders Under the IEA Implementing Agreement on the Nuclear Technology of Fusion Reactors, and the Japan-US Fusion Collaboration Framework. This workshop was held in Tokyo, Japan on December 15-17, 2003. About thirty experts from China, EU, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Russia and USA attended the workshop. The scope of the workshop included 1) evolutions in ceramic breeder blanket design, 2) progress in ceramic breeder material development, 3) irradiation testing, 4) breeder material properties, 5) out-of-pile pebble bed experiment, 6) modeling of the thermal, mechanical and tritium transfer behavior of pebble beds and 7) interfacing issues of solid breeder blanket. In the workshop, information exchange was performed for designs of solid breeder blankets and test blankets in EU, Russia and Japan, recent results of irradiation tests, HICU, EXOTIC-8 and the irradiation tests by IVV-2M, modeling study on tritium release behavior of Li 2 TiO 3 and so on, fabrication technology developments and characterization of the Li 2 TiO 3 and Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles, research on measurements and modeling of thermo-mechanical behaviors of Li 2 TiO 3 and Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles, and interfacing issues, such as, fabrication technology for blanket box structure, neutronics experiments of blanket mockups by fusion neutron source and tritium recovery system. The 26 of the presented papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Self-cooled blanket concepts using Pb-17Li as liquid breeder and coolant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Deckers, H.; Fischer, U.; John, H.; Meyder, R.; Norajitra, P.; Reimann, J.; Reiser, H.; Rust, K.

1991-01-01

A blanket design concept using Pb-17Li eutectic alloy as both breeder material and coolant is described. Such a self-cooled blanket for the boundary conditions of a DEMO-reactor is under development at the Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KfK) in the frame of the European blanket development program. Results of investigations in the areas of design, neutronics, magneto-hydrodynamics, thermo-mechanics, ancillary loop systems, and safety are reported. Based on recent progress, it can be concluded that the boundary conditions of a DEMO-reactor can be met, tritium self-sufficiency can be obtained without using beryllium as an additional neutron multiplier, and tritium inventory and permeation are acceptably low. However, to complete judge the feasibility of the proposed concept, further studies are necessary to obtain a better understanding of the magneto-hydrodynamic phenomena and their effects on the thermal-hydraulic performance of a fusion reactor blanket. (orig.)

Overview of design and R and D of solid breeder TBM in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, K.M.; Pan, C.H.; Zhang, G.S.; Yuan, T.; Chen, Z.; Zhao, Z.; Liu, H.B.; Li, Z.Q.; Hu, G.; Wang, X.Y.; Ye, X.F.; Luo, D.L.; Wang, H.Y.; Zhou, Z.W.; Gao, C.M.; Chen, Y.J.; Wang, P.H.; Cao, Q.X.; Wang, Q.J.

2008-01-01

Testing of breeding blanket module (TBM) is one of ITER's important objectives. China is performing design and technology development of ITER TBMs based on the development strategy of fusion DEMO in China. Solid breeder with helium-cooled test blanket module concept for test in ITER should be the basic option in China. The progress and status of China helium-cooled solid breeder (CH HCSB) TBM since 2004 are introduced briefly. Concept designs of HCSB TBM and ancillary systems, test strategy for their tests in ITER, key R and D issues are summarized in this paper. An international collaboration in R and D, development and testing of TBMs are proposed

Pre-conceptual design study on K-DEMO ceramic breeder blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Jong Sung, E-mail: jspark@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-333 (Korea, Republic of); Kwon, Sungjin; Im, Kihak; Kim, Keeman [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon 305-333 (Korea, Republic of); Brown, Thomas; Neilson, George [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ 08543 (United States)

2015-11-15

A pre-conceptual design study has been carried out for the Korean fusion demonstration reactor (K-DEMO) tokamak featured by high magnetic field (B{sub T0} = 7.4 T), R = 6.8 m, a = 2.1 m, and a steady-state operation. The design concepts of the K-DEMO blanket system considering the cooling in-vessel components with pressurized water and a solid pebble breeder are described herein. The structure of the K-DEMO blanket is toroidally subdivided into 16 inboard and 32 outboard sectors, in order to allow the vertical maintenance. Each blanket module is composed of plasma-facing first wall, layers of breeding parts, shielding and manifolds. A ceramic breeder using Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} pebbles with Be{sub 12}Ti as neuron multiplier is employed for study. MCNP neutronic simulations and thermo-hydraulic analyses are interactively performed in order to satisfy two key aspects: achieving a global Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR) >1.05 and operating within the maximum allowable temperature ranges of materials.

Status report. KfK contribution to the development of DEMO-relevant test blankets for NET/ITER. Pt. 2: BOT helium cooled solid breeder blanket. Vol. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalle Donne, M.; Boccaccini, L.V.; Bojarsky, E.; Deckers, H.; Dienst, W.; Doerr, L.; Fischer, U.; Giese, H.; Guenther, E.; Haefner, H.E.; Hofmann, P.; Kappler, F.; Knitter, R.; Kuechle, M.; Moellendorf, U. von; Norajitra, P.; Penzhorn, R.D.; Reimann, G.; Reiser, H.; Schulz, B.; Schumacher, G.; Schwenk-Ferrero, A.; Sordon, G.; Tsukiyama, T.; Wedemeyer, H.; Weimar, P.; Werle, H.; Wiegner, E.; Zimmermann, H.

1991-10-01

The BOT (Breeder Outside Tube) Helium Cooled Breeder Blanket for a fusion Demo reactor and the status of the R and D program is presented. This is the KfK contribution to the European Program for the Demo relevant test plankets to be irradiated in NET/ITER. Volume 1 (KfK 4928) contains the summary, volume 2 (KfK 4929) a more detailed version of the report. In both volumes are described the reasons for the selected design, the reference blanket design for the Demo reactor, the design of test blanket including the ancillary systems together with the present status of the relative R and D program in the fields of neutronic and thermohydraulic calculations, of the electromagnetic forces caused by disruptions, of the development and irradiation of the ceramic breeder material, of the tritium release and recovery, and of the technological investigations. An outlook is given on the required R and D program for the BOT Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Blanket prior to tests in NET/ITER and the proposed test program in NET/ITER. (orig.) [de

Low technology high tritium breeding blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.; Baker, C.C.; Smith, D.L.

1987-10-01

The main function of this low technology blanket is to produce the necessary tritium for INTOR operation with minimum first wall coverage. The INTOR first wall, blanket, and shield are constrained by the dimensions of the reference design and the protection criteria required for different reactor components and dose equivalent after shutdown in the reactor hall. It is assumed that the blanket operation at commercial power reactor conditions and the proper temperature for power generation can be sacrificed to achieve the highest possible tritium breeding ratio with minimum additional research and developments and minimal impact on reactor design and operation. A set of blanket evaluation criteria has been used to compare possible blanket concepts. Six areas: performance, operating requirements, impact on reactor design and operation, safety and environmental impact, technology assessment, and cost have been defined for the evaluation process. A water-cooled blanket was developed to operate with a low temperature and pressure. The developed blanket contains a 24 cm of beryllium and 6 cm of solid breeder both with a 0.8 density factor. This blanket provides a local tritium breeding ratio of ∼2.0. The water coolant is isolated from the breeder material by several zones which eliminates the tritium buildup in the water by permeation and reduces the changes for water-breeder interaction. This improves the safety and environmental aspects of the blanket and eliminates the costly process of the tritium recovery from the water. 12 refs., 13 tabs

Numerical research on the neutronic/thermal-hydraulic/mechanical coupling characteristics of the optimized helium cooled solid breeder blanket for CFETR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui, Shijie; Zhang, Dalin; Cheng, Jie; Tian, Wenxi; Su, G.H.

2017-01-01

As one of the candidate tritium breeding blankets for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), a conceptual structure of the helium cooled solid breeder blanket has recently been proposed. The neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and mechanical characteristics of the blanket directly affect its tritium breeding and safety performance. Therefore, neutronic/thermal-hydraulic/mechanical coupling analyses are of vital importance for a reliable blanket design. In this work, first, three-dimensional neutronics analysis and optimization of the typical outboard equatorial blanket module (No. 12) were performed for the comprehensive optimal scheme. Then, thermal and fluid dynamic analyses of the scheme under both normal and critical conditions were performed and coupled with the previous neutronic calculation results. With thermal-hydraulic boundaries, thermo-mechanical analyses of the structure materials under normal, critical and blanket over-pressurization conditions were carried out. In addition, several parametric sensitivity studies were also conducted to investigate the influences of the main parameters on the blanket temperature distributions. In this paper, the coupled analyses verify the reasonability of the optimized conceptual design preliminarily and can provide an important reference for the further analysis and optimization design of the CFETR helium cooled solid breeder blanket.

Numerical research on the neutronic/thermal-hydraulic/mechanical coupling characteristics of the optimized helium cooled solid breeder blanket for CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cui, Shijie; Zhang, Dalin, E-mail: dlzhang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn; Cheng, Jie; Tian, Wenxi; Su, G.H.

2017-01-15

As one of the candidate tritium breeding blankets for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), a conceptual structure of the helium cooled solid breeder blanket has recently been proposed. The neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and mechanical characteristics of the blanket directly affect its tritium breeding and safety performance. Therefore, neutronic/thermal-hydraulic/mechanical coupling analyses are of vital importance for a reliable blanket design. In this work, first, three-dimensional neutronics analysis and optimization of the typical outboard equatorial blanket module (No. 12) were performed for the comprehensive optimal scheme. Then, thermal and fluid dynamic analyses of the scheme under both normal and critical conditions were performed and coupled with the previous neutronic calculation results. With thermal-hydraulic boundaries, thermo-mechanical analyses of the structure materials under normal, critical and blanket over-pressurization conditions were carried out. In addition, several parametric sensitivity studies were also conducted to investigate the influences of the main parameters on the blanket temperature distributions. In this paper, the coupled analyses verify the reasonability of the optimized conceptual design preliminarily and can provide an important reference for the further analysis and optimization design of the CFETR helium cooled solid breeder blanket.

European DEMO BOT Solid Breeder Blanket: the concept based on the use of cooling plates and beds of beryllium and Li4SiO4 pebbles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalle Donne, M.; Fischer, U.; Norajitra, P.; Reimann, G.; Reiser, H.

1995-01-01

The paper presents an important modification of the European DEMO BOT Solid Breeder Blanket. The new design uses cooling plates rather than tubes. This allows a considerable simplification of the blanket and the separation of the beryllium from the Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles. The neutronic, thermohydraulic and tritium performance of the new design is quite good and equivalent to that of the previous one. (orig.)

Key achievements in elementary R&D on water-cooled solid breeder blanket for ITER test blanket module in JAERI

Science.gov (United States)

Suzuki, S.; Enoeda, M.; Hatano, T.; Hirose, T.; Hayashi, K.; Tanigawa, H.; Ochiai, K.; Nishitani, T.; Tobita, K.; Akiba, M.

2006-02-01

This paper presents the significant progress made in the research and development (R&D) of key technologies on the water-cooled solid breeder blanket for the ITER test blanket modules in JAERI. Development of module fabrication technology, bonding technology of armours, measurement of thermo-mechanical properties of pebble beds, neutronics studies on a blanket module mockup and tritium release behaviour from a Li2TiO3 pebble bed under neutron-pulsed operation conditions are summarized. With the improvement of the heat treatment process for blanket module fabrication, a fine-grained microstructure of F82H can be obtained by homogenizing it at 1150 °C followed by normalizing it at 930 °C after the hot isostatic pressing process. Moreover, a promising bonding process for a tungsten armour and an F82H structural material was developed using a solid-state bonding method based on uniaxial hot compression without any artificial compliant layer. As a result of high heat flux tests of F82H first wall mockups, it has been confirmed that a fatigue lifetime correlation, which was developed for the ITER divertor, can be made applicable for the F82H first wall mockup. As for R&D on the breeder material, Li2TiO3, the effect of compression loads on effective thermal conductivity of pebble beds has been clarified for the Li2TiO3 pebble bed. The tritium breeding ratio of a simulated multi-layer blanket structure has successfully been measured using 14 MeV neutrons with an accuracy of 10%. The tritium release rate from the Li2TiO3 pebble has also been successfully measured with pulsed neutron irradiation, which simulates ITER operation.

Considerations on techniques for improving tritium confinement in helium-cooled ceramic breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuetterer, M.A.; Raepsaet, X.; Proust, E.; Leger, D.

1994-01-01

Tritium control issues such as the development of permeation barriers and the choice of the coolant and purge-gas chemistry are of crucial importance for solid breeder blankets. In order to quantify these problems for the helium-cooled ceramic breeder-inside-tube (BIT) blanket concept, the tritium leakage into the coolant was evaluated and the consequent tritium losses into the steam circuit were determined. The results indicate that under certain specified conditions the total tritium release from the coolant can be limited to approximately 10 Ci/d, but only on the assumption that experimental data for tritium permeation barriers can be attained under realistic operating conditions. An experimental study on the impact of the gas chemistry on tritium losses is proposed. (author) 8 refs.; 2 figs

Blanket comparison and selection study. Volume II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-10-01

This volume contains extensive data for the following chapters: (1) solid breeder tritium recovery, (2) solid breeder blanket designs, (3) alternate blanket concept screening, and (4) safety analysis. The following appendices are also included: (1) blanket design guidelines, (2) power conversion systems, (3) helium-cooled, vanadium alloy structure blanket design, (4) high wall loading study, and (5) molten salt safety studies

Concept and nuclear performance of direct-enrichment fusion breeder blanket using UO2 powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oka, Yoshiaki; Kasahara, Takayasu; An, Shigehiro

1985-01-01

A new concept is presented for direct enrichment of fissile fuel in the blanket of a fusion-fission hybrid reactor. The enriched fuel produced by this means can be used in fission reactors without reprocessing. The outstanding feature of the concept is the powdered form in which UO 2 fuel is placed in the reactor blanket, where it is irradiated to the requisite enrichment for use as fuel in burner reactor, e.g. 3%. After removal from blanket, the powder is mixed to homogenize the enrichment. Fuel pellets and assemblies are then fabricated from the powder without reprocessing. The concept of irradiating UO 2 in powder eliminates the problems of spatial nonuniformity in fissile enrichment, and of radiation damage to fuel clad, encountered in attempting to enrich prefabricated fuel. Powder mixing for homogenization brings the additional benefit of removing volatile fission products. Also burnable poison can be added, as necessary, after irradiation. An extensive neutronic parameter survey showed that the optimum blanket arrangement for this enrichment concept is one presenting a fission suppressing configuration and with beryllium adopted as moderator. By this arrangement, the average 239 Pu enrichment obtained on the natural UO 2 fuel in the blanket reaches 3% after only 0.56 MW.yr/m"2 exposure. A conceptual design is presented of the blanket, together with associated fusion breeder, from which, practical application of the concept is shown to be promising. (author)

Key achievements in elementary R and Ds on water-cooled solid breeder blanket for ITER Test Blanket Module in JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, S.; Enoeda, M.; Hatano, T.; Hirose, T.; Tanigawa, H.; Tobita, K.; Akiba, M.; Hayashi, K.; Ochiai, K.; Nishitani, T.

2005-01-01

This paper presents significant progress in research and development (R and D) of key elementary technologies on the water-cooled solid breeder blanket for the ITER test blanket modules (TBMs) in JAERI. Development of module fabrication technology, bonding technology of armors, measurement of thermo-mechanical properties of pebble beds, neutronics studies on a blanket module mockup, and tritium release behavior from Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed under neutron pulsed operation condition are summarized. By the improvement of heat treatment process for blanket module fabrication, a fine-grained microstructure of F82H, can be obtained by homogenizing it at 1150 deg C followed by normalizing at 930 deg C after the Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) process. Moreover, a promising bonding process for a tungsten armor and an F82H structural material was developed by using a solid state bonding method based on uniaxial hot compression without any artificial compliant layer. As a result of high heat flux tests of F82H first wall mockups, it was found that the thermal fatigue lifetime of F82H can be predicted by using Manson-Coffin's law. As for R and Ds on a breeder material, Li 2 TiO 3 , effective thermal conductivity of Li 2 TiO 3 pebble was measured under compressive force simulating the ITER TBM environment. The increase in the effective thermal conductivity of the pebble bed was about 2.5 % at the compressive strain of 0.9 % at 400 deg C. Neutronic performance of the blanket module mockup has been carried out by the 14 MeV neutron irradiation. It was confirmed that the measured tritium production rate agreed with the calculated values within about 10% difference. Also, tritium release from a Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed was measured under pulsed neutron irradiation conditions simulating the ITER operation. (author)

Key achievements in elementary R and D on water-cooled solid breeder blanket for ITER test blanket module in JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, S.; Enoeda, M.; Hatano, T.; Hirose, T.; Hayashi, K.; Tanigawa, H.; Ochiai, K.; Nishitani, T.; Tobita, K.; Akiba, M.

2006-01-01

This paper presents the significant progress made in the research and development (R and D) of key technologies on the water-cooled solid breeder blanket for the ITER test blanket modules in JAERI. Development of module fabrication technology, bonding technology of armours, measurement of thermo-mechanical properties of pebble beds, neutronics studies on a blanket module mockup and tritium release behaviour from a Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed under neutron-pulsed operation conditions are summarized. With the improvement of the heat treatment process for blanket module fabrication, a fine-grained microstructure of F82H can be obtained by homogenizing it at 1150 0 C followed by normalizing it at 930 0 C after the hot isostatic pressing process. Moreover, a promising bonding process for a tungsten armour and an F82H structural material was developed using a solid-state bonding method based on uniaxial hot compression without any artificial compliant layer. As a result of high heat flux tests of F82H first wall mockups, it has been confirmed that a fatigue lifetime correlation, which was developed for the ITER divertor, can be made applicable for the F82H first wall mockup. As for R and D on the breeder material, Li 2 TiO 3 , the effect of compression loads on effective thermal conductivity of pebble beds has been clarified for the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed. The tritium breeding ratio of a simulated multi-layer blanket structure has successfully been measured using 14 MeV neutrons with an accuracy of 10%. The tritium release rate from the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble has also been successfully measured with pulsed neutron irradiation, which simulates ITER operation

On blanket concepts of the Helias reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wobig, H.; Harmeyer, E.; Herrnegger, F.; Kisslinger, J.

1999-07-01

The paper discusses various options for a blanket of the Helias reactor HSR22. The Helias reactor is an upgrade version of the Wendelstein 7-X device. The dimensions of the Helias reactor are: major radius 22 m, average plasma radius 1.8 m, magnetic field on axis 4.75 T, maximum field 10 T, number of field periods 5, fusion power 3000 MW. The minimum distance between plasma and coils is 1.5 m, leaving sufficient space for a blanket and shield. Three options of a breeding blanket are discussed taking into account the specific properties of the Helias configuration. Due to the large area of the first wall (2600 m 2 ) the average neutron power load on the first wall is below 1 MWm .2 , which has a strong impact on the blanket performance with respect to lifetime and cooling requirements. A comparison with a tokamak reactor shows that the lifetime of first wall components and blanket components in the Helias reactor is expected to be at least two times longer. The blanket concepts being discussed in the following are: the solid breeder concept (HCPB), the dual-coolant Pb-17Li blanket concept and the water-cooled Pb-17Li concept (WCLL). (orig.)

Blanket materials for DT fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.

1981-01-01

This paper presents an overview of the critical materials issues that must be considered in the development of a tritium breeding blanket for a tokamak fusion reactor that operates on the D-T-Li fuel cycle. The primary requirements of the blanket system are identified and the important criteria that must be considered in the development of blanket technology are summarized. The candidate materials are listed for the different blanket components, e.g., breeder, coolant, structure and neutron multiplier. Three blanket concepts that appear to offer the most potential are: (1) liquid-metal breeder/coolant, (2) liquid-metal breeder/separate coolant, and (3) solid breeder/separate coolant. The major uncertainties associated with each of the design concepts are discussed and the key materials R and D requirements for each concept are identified

Overview of EU activities on DEMO liquid metal breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giancarli, L.; Proust, E.; Malang, S.; Reimann, J.; Perujo, A.

1994-01-01

The present paper gives an overview of both design and experimental activities within the European Union (EU) concerning the development of liquid metal breeder blankets for DEMO. After several years of studies on breeding blankets, two blanket concepts are presently considered, both using the eutectic Pb-17Li: the dual-coolant concept and the water-cooled concept. The analysis of such concepts has permitted to identify the experimental areas where further data are required. Tritium control and MHD-issues are, at present, the activities on which is devoted the greatest effort within the EU. (authors). 4 figs., 4 tabs., 39 refs

An overview of dual coolant Pb-17Li breeder first wall and blanket concept development for the US ITER-TBM design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wong, Clement; Malang, S.; Sawan, M.; Dagher, Mohamad; Smolentsev, S.; Merrill, Brad; Youssef, M.; Reyes, Susanna; Sze, Dai Kai; Morley, Neil B.; Sharafat, Shahran; Calderoni, P.; Sviatoslavsky, G.; Kurtz, Richard J.; Fogarty, Paul J.; Zinkle, Steven J.; Abdou, Mohamed A.

2006-07-05

An attractive blanket concept for the fusion reactor is the dual coolant Pb-17Li liquid (DCLL) breeder design. Reduced activation ferritic steel (RAFS) is used as the structural material. Helium is used to cool the first wall and blanket structure, and the self-cooled breeder Pb-17Li is circulated for power conversion and for tritium breeding. A SiCf/SiC composite insert is used as the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) insulation to reduce the impact from the MHD pressure drop of the circulating Pb-17Li and as the thermal insulator to separate the high temperature Pb-17Li from the helium cooled RAFS structure. For the reference tokamak power reactor design, this blanket concept has the potential of satisfying the design limits of RAFS while allowing the feasibility of having a high Pb-17Li outlet temperture of 700C. We have identified critical issues for the concept, some of which inlude the first wall design, the assessment of MHD effectrs with the SiC-composite flow coolant insert, and the extraction and control of the bred tritium from the Pb-17Li breeder. R&D programs have been proposed to address these issues. At the same time, we have proposed a test plan for the DCLL ITER-Test Blanket Module program.

Analysis of mechanical effects caused by plasma disruptions in the European breeder out of tube solid breeder blanket design with MANET as structural material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boccaccini, L.V.; Ruatto, P.

1995-01-01

In this paper we deal with some aspects related to the mechanical behaviour of the European breeder out of tube solid breeder blanket for the DEMO reactor during plasma disruptions. The first aspect regards the properties of the martensitic steel MANET which has been chosen as structural material. MANET is a magnetic material and its fracture toughness properties degrade considerably under irradiation. These two features have been taken into account in the calculation of magentic forces and in the assessment of conditions of unstable crack propagation respectively. As second aspect, a comparison between an electrically segmented and a continuous blanket design has been performed. The analysis reveals lower mechanical stresses for the second design during the DEMO reference disruption and in case of faster disruptions. (orig.)

Safety and environmental impact of the dual coolant blanket concept. SEAL subtask 6.2, final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleefeldt, K.; Dammel, F.; Gabel, K.; Jordan, T.; Schmuck, I.

1996-03-01

The European Union has been engaged since 1989 in a programme to develop tritium breeding blankets for application in a fusion power reactor. There are four concepts under development, namely two of the solid breeder type and two of the liquid breeder type. At the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe one blanket concept of each line has been pursued so far with the so-called dual coolant type representing the liquid breeder line. In the dual coolant concept the breeder material (Pb-17Li) is circulated to external heat exchangers to carry away the bulk of the generated heat and to extract the tritium. Additionally, the heavily loaded first wall is cooled by high pressure helium gas. The safety and environmental impact of the dual coolant blanket concept has been assessed as part of the blanket concept selection excercise, a European concerted action, aiming at selecting the two most promising concepts for futher development. The topics investigated are: (a) Blanket materials and toxic materials inventory, (b) energy sources for mobilisation, (c) fault tolerance, (d) tritium and activation products release, and (e) waste generation and management. No insurmountable safety problems have been identified for the dual coolant blanket. The results of the assessment are described in this report. The information collected is also intended to serve as input to the EU 'Safety and Environmental Assessment of Fusion longterm Programme' (SEAL). The unresolved issues pertaining to the dual coolant blanket which would need further investigations in future programmes are outlined herein. (orig.) [de

ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLID WALL BLANKET CONCEPTS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

WONG, CPC; MALANG, S; NISHIO, S; RAFFRAY, R; SAGARA, S

2002-01-01

OAK A271 ADVANCED HIGH PERFORMANCE SOLID WALL BLANKET CONCEPTS. First wall and blanket (FW/blanket) design is a crucial element in the performance and acceptance of a fusion power plant. High temperature structural and breeding materials are needed for high thermal performance. A suitable combination of structural design with the selected materials is necessary for D-T fuel sufficiency. Whenever possible, low afterheat, low chemical reactivity and low activation materials are desired to achieve passive safety and minimize the amount of high-level waste. Of course the selected fusion FW/blanket design will have to match the operational scenarios of high performance plasma. The key characteristics of eight advanced high performance FW/blanket concepts are presented in this paper. Design configurations, performance characteristics, unique advantages and issues are summarized. All reviewed designs can satisfy most of the necessary design goals. For further development, in concert with the advancement in plasma control and scrape off layer physics, additional emphasis will be needed in the areas of first wall coating material selection, design of plasma stabilization coils, consideration of reactor startup and transient events. To validate the projected performance of the advanced FW/blanket concepts the critical element is the need for 14 MeV neutron irradiation facilities for the generation of necessary engineering design data and the prediction of FW/blanket components lifetime and availability

An overview of dual coolant Pb-17Li breeder first wall and blanket concept development for the US ITER-TBM design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wong, C.P.C. [General Atomics, P.O. Box 85608, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States)]. E-mail: wongc@fusion.gat.com; Malang, S. [Fusion Nuclear Technology Consulting, Linkenheim (Germany); Sawan, M. [University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Dagher, M. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Smolentsev, S. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Merrill, B. [INEEL, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Youssef, M. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Reyes, S. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA (United States); Sze, D.K. [University of California, San Diego, CA (United States); Morley, N.B. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Sharafat, S. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Calderoni, P. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States); Sviatoslavsky, G. [University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Kurtz, R. [Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, WA (United States); Fogarty, P. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Zinkle, S. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Abdou, M. [University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2006-02-15

An attractive blanket concept for the fusion reactor is the dual coolant Pb-17Li liquid (DCLL) breeder design. Reduced activation ferritic steel (RAFS) is used as the structural material. Helium is used to cool the first wall and blanket structure, and the self-cooled breeder Pb-17Li is circulated for power conversion and for tritium breeding. A SiC{sub f}/SiC composite insert is used as the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) insulation to reduce the impact from the MHD pressure drop of the circulating Pb-17Li and as the thermal insulator to separate the high temperature Pb-17Li from the helium cooled RAFS structure. For the reference tokamak power reactor design, this blanket concept has the potential of satisfying the design limits of RAFS while allowing the feasibility of having a high Pb-17Li outlet temperature of 700 deg. C. We have identified critical issues for the concept, some of which include the first wall design, the assessment of MHD effects with the SiC-composite flow coolant insert, and the extraction and control of the bred tritium from the Pb-17Li breeder. R and D programs have been proposed to address these issues. At the same time we have proposed a test plan for the DCLL ITER-Test Blanket Module program.

Dual coolant blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Schleisiek, K.

1994-11-01

A self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket with helium-cooled first wall ('Dual Coolant Blanket Concept') for a fusion DEMO reactor is described. This is one of the four blanket concepts under development in the frame of the European fusion technology program with the aim to select in 1995 the two most promising ones for further development. Described are the design of the blankets including the ancillary loop system and the results of the theoretical and experimental work in the fields of neutronics, magnetohydrodynamics, thermohydraulics, mechanical stresses, compatibility and purification of lead-lithium, tritium control, safety, reliability, and electrically insulating coatings. The remaining open questions and the required R and D programme are identified. (orig.) [de

Design optimization of first wall and breeder unit module size for the Indian HCCB blanket module

Science.gov (United States)

Deepak, SHARMA; Paritosh, CHAUDHURI

2018-04-01

The Indian test blanket module (TBM) program in ITER is one of the major steps in the Indian fusion reactor program for carrying out the R&D activities in the critical areas like design of tritium breeding blankets relevant to future Indian fusion devices (ITER relevant and DEMO). The Indian Lead–Lithium Cooled Ceramic Breeder (LLCB) blanket concept is one of the Indian DEMO relevant TBM, to be tested in ITER as a part of the TBM program. Helium-Cooled Ceramic Breeder (HCCB) is an alternative blanket concept that consists of lithium titanate (Li2TiO3) as ceramic breeder (CB) material in the form of packed pebble beds and beryllium as the neutron multiplier. Specifically, attentions are given to the optimization of first wall coolant channel design and size of breeder unit module considering coolant pressure and thermal loads for the proposed Indian HCCB blanket based on ITER relevant TBM and loading conditions. These analyses will help proceeding further in designing blankets for loads relevant to the future fusion device.

Preliminary Analysis on Decay Heat Removal Capability of Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Test Blanket Module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, Mu Young; Cho, Seung Yon; Kim, Duck Hoi; Lee, Eun Seok; Kim, Hyung Seok; Suh, Jae Seung; Yun, Sung Hwan; Cho, Nam Zin

2007-01-01

One of the main ITER goals is to test and validate design concepts of tritium breeding blankets relevant to DEMO or fusion power plants. Korea Helium-Cooled Solid Breeder (HCSB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) has been developed with overall objectives of achieving this goal. The TBM employs high pressure helium to cool down the First Wall (FW), Side Wall (SW) and Breeding Zone (BZ). Therefore, safety consideration is a part of the design process. Each ITER Party performing the TBM program is requested to reach a similar level of confidence in the TBM safety analysis. To meet ITER's request, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) studies have been performed on the TBM to identify the Postulated Initial Event (PIE). Although FMEA on the KO TBM has not been completed, in-vessel, in-box and ex-vessel Loss Of Coolant Accident (LOCA) are considered as enveloping cases of PIE in general. In this paper, accidental analyses for the three selected LOCA were performed to investigate the decay heat removal capability of the TBM. To simulate transient thermo-hydraulic behavior of the TBM for the selected scenarios, RELAP5/MOD3.2 code was used

Self-cooled liquid-metal blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Arheidt, K.; Barleon, L.

1988-01-01

A blanket concept for the Next European Torus (NET) where 83Pb-17Li serves both as breeder material and as coolant is described. The concept is based on the use of novel flow channel inserts for a decisive reduction of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure drop and employs beryllium as neutron multiplier in order to avoid the need for breeding blankets at the inboard side of the torus. This study includes the design, neutronics, thermal hydraulics, stresses, MHDs, corrosion, tritium recovery, and safety of a self-cooled liquid-metal blanket. The results of the investigations indicate that the self-cooled blanket is an attractive alternative to other driver blanket concepts for NET and that it can be extrapolated to the conditions of a DEMO reactor

Liquid metal cooled blanket concept for NET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Casal, V.; Arheidt, K.; Fischer, U.; Link, W.; Rust, K.

1986-01-01

A blanket concept for NET using liquid lithium-lead both as breeder material and as coolant is described. The need for inboard breeding is avoided by using beryllium as neutron multiplier in the outboard blanket. Novel flow channel inserts are employed in all poloidal ducts to reduce the MHD pressure drop. The concept offers a simple mechanical design and a higher tritium breeding ratio compared to water- and gas-cooled blankets. (author)

Assessment of First Wall and Blanket Options with the Use of Liquid Breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Malang, S.; Sawan, M.

2005-01-01

As candidate blanket concepts for a U.S. advanced reactor power plant design, with consideration of the time frame for ITER development, we assessed first wall and blanket design concepts based on the use of reduced activation ferritic steel as structural material and liquid breeder as the coolant and tritium breeder. The liquid breeder choice includes the conventional molten salt Li 2 BeF 4 and the low melting point molten salts such as LiBeF 3 and LiNaBeF 4 (FLiNaBe). Both self-cooled and dual coolant molten salt options were evaluated. We have also included the dual coolant leadeutectic Pb-17Li design in our assessment. We take advantage of the molten salt low electrical and thermal conductivity to minimize impacts from the MHD effect and the heat losses from the breeder to the actively cooled steel structure. For the Pb-17Li breeder we employ flow channel inserts of SiC f /SiC composite with low electrical and thermal conductivity to perform respective insulation functions. We performed preliminary assessments of these design options in the areas of neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, safety, and power conversion system. Status of the R and D items of selected high performance blanket concepts is reported. Results from this study will form the technical basis for the formulation of the U.S. ITER test module program and corresponding test plan

Objectives and status of EUROfusion DEMO blanket studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boccaccini, L.V., E-mail: lorenzo.boccaccini@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Germany); Aiello, G.; Aubert, J. [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, SEMT, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Bachmann, C. [EUROfusion, PPPT, Garching (Germany); Barrett, T. [CCFE, Abingdon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Del Nevo, A. [ENEA CR Brasimone, 40032 Camugnano, BO (Italy); Demange, D. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Germany); Forest, L. [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, SEMT, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Hernandez, F.; Norajitra, P. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Germany); Porempovic, G. [Fuziotech Engineering Ltd (Hungary); Rapisarda, D. [CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense 40, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Sardain, P. [CEA/IRFM, 13115 Saint-Paul-lès-Durance (France); Utili, M. [ENEA CR Brasimone, 40032 Camugnano, BO (Italy); Vala, L. [Centrum výzkumu Řež, 250 68 Husinec-Řež (Czech Republic)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Short description of the new Breeding Blanket Project in the EUROfusion consortium for the design of the EU PPPT DEMO: objectives. • Presentation of the design approach used in the development of the Breeding Blanket design: requirements. • Breeding Blanket design; in particular the four blanket concepts included in the study are presented, recent results highlighted and the status discussed. • Auxiliary systems and related R&D programme: in particular the work areas addressed in the Project (Tritium Technology, Pb-Li and Solid Breeders Technology, First Wall Design and R&D, Manufacturing) are presented, recent results highlighted and the status discussed. - Abstract: The design of a DEMO reactor requires the design of a blanket system suitable of reliable T production and heat extraction for electricity production. In the frame of the EUROfusion Consortium activities, the Breeding Blanket Project has been constituted in 2014 with the goal to develop concepts of Breeding Blankets for the EU PPPT DEMO; this includes an integrated design and R&D programme with the goal to select after 2020 concepts on fusion plants for the engineering phase. The design activities are presently focalized around a pool of solid and liquid breeder blanket with helium, water and PbLi cooling. Development of tritium extraction and control technology, as well manufacturing and development of solid and PbLi breeders are part of the programme.

Feasibility study of fusion breeding blanket concept employing graphite reflector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Seungyon; Ahn, Mu-Young; Lee, Cheol Woo; Kim, Eung Seon; Park, Yi-Hyun; Lee, Youngmin; Lee, Dong Won

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A Helium-Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) breeding blanket concept adopts graphite as a reflector material by reducing the amount of beryllium multiplier. • Its feasibility was investigated in view point of the nuclear performance as well as material-related issues. • A nuclear analysis is performed under the fusion reactor condition to address the feasibility of graphite reflector in breeding blanket. • Also, the chemical stability of the graphite is investigated considering the chemical stability under accident conditions. • In conclusion, the adaptation of graphite reflector in breeding blanket is intrinsically safe and plausible under fusion reactor condition. - Abstract: To obtain high tritium breeding performance with limited blanket thickness, most of solid breeder blanket concepts employ a combination of lithium ceramic as a breeder and beryllium as a multiplier. In this case, considering that huge amount of beryllium are needed in fusion power plants, its handling difficulty and cost can be a major factor to be accounted for commercial use. Korea has proposed a Helium-Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) breeding blanket concept relevant to fusion power plants. Here, graphite is used as a reflector material by reducing the amount of beryllium multiplier. Its feasibility has been investigated in view point of the nuclear performance as well as material-related issues. In this paper, a nuclear analysis is performed under the fusion reactor condition to address the feasibility of graphite reflector in breeding blanket, considering tritium breeding capability and neutron shielding and activation aspects. Also, the chemical stability of the graphite is investigated considering the chemical stability under accident conditions, resulting in that the adaptation of graphite reflector in breeding blanket is intrinsically safe and plausible under fusion reactor condition.

Feasibility study of fusion breeding blanket concept employing graphite reflector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Seungyon, E-mail: sycho@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Ahn, Mu-Young [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Cheol Woo; Kim, Eung Seon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Yi-Hyun; Lee, Youngmin [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Dong Won [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • A Helium-Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) breeding blanket concept adopts graphite as a reflector material by reducing the amount of beryllium multiplier. • Its feasibility was investigated in view point of the nuclear performance as well as material-related issues. • A nuclear analysis is performed under the fusion reactor condition to address the feasibility of graphite reflector in breeding blanket. • Also, the chemical stability of the graphite is investigated considering the chemical stability under accident conditions. • In conclusion, the adaptation of graphite reflector in breeding blanket is intrinsically safe and plausible under fusion reactor condition. - Abstract: To obtain high tritium breeding performance with limited blanket thickness, most of solid breeder blanket concepts employ a combination of lithium ceramic as a breeder and beryllium as a multiplier. In this case, considering that huge amount of beryllium are needed in fusion power plants, its handling difficulty and cost can be a major factor to be accounted for commercial use. Korea has proposed a Helium-Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) breeding blanket concept relevant to fusion power plants. Here, graphite is used as a reflector material by reducing the amount of beryllium multiplier. Its feasibility has been investigated in view point of the nuclear performance as well as material-related issues. In this paper, a nuclear analysis is performed under the fusion reactor condition to address the feasibility of graphite reflector in breeding blanket, considering tritium breeding capability and neutron shielding and activation aspects. Also, the chemical stability of the graphite is investigated considering the chemical stability under accident conditions, resulting in that the adaptation of graphite reflector in breeding blanket is intrinsically safe and plausible under fusion reactor condition.

An overview of dual coolant Pb-17Li breeder first wall and blanket concept development for the US ITER-TBM design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wong, Clement; Malang, S.; Sawan, M.; Dagher, Mohamad; Smolentsev, S.; Merrill, Brad; Youssef, M.; Reyes, Susanna; Sze, Dai Kai; Morley, Neil B.; Sharafat, Shahran; Calderoni, P.; Sviatoslavsky, G.; Kurtz, Richard J.; Fogarty, Paul J.; Zinkle, Steven J.; Abdou, Mohamed A.

2006-02-01

An attractive blanket concept for the fusion reactor is the dual coolant Pb-17Li liquid (DCLL) breeder design. Reduced activation ferritic steel (RAFS) is used as the structural material. Helium is used to cool the first wall and blanket structure, and the self-cooled breeder Pb-17LI is circulated for power conversion and for tritium breeding. A SiCf/SiC composite insert is used as the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) insulation to reduce the impact from the MHD pressure drop of the circulating Ph-17Li and as the thermal insulator to separate the high temperature Pb-17Li from the helium cooled RAFS structure.

Preliminary accident analysis of Loss of Off-Site Power and In-Box LOCA for the CFETR helium cooled solid breeder blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lian, Qiang; Cui, Shijie [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 (China); Shaanxi Key Lab. of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 (China); Tian, Wenxi, E-mail: wxtian@mail.xjtu.edu.cn [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 (China); Shaanxi Key Lab. of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 (China); Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Dalin; Su, G.H. [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 (China); Shaanxi Key Lab. of Advanced Nuclear Energy and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049 (China)

2017-05-15

Highlights: • The CFETR HCSB blanket has been investigated using RELAP5. • Loss of Off-Site Power is investigated. • The parametric analyses during In-Box LOCA are investigated. • The HCSB blanket for CFETR is designed with sufficient decay heat removal capability. - Abstract: As one of three candidate tritium breeding blanket concepts for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR), a conceptual structure of helium cooled solid breeder (HCSB) blanket was recently proposed. In this paper, the preliminary thermal-hydraulic and safety analyses of the typical outboard equatorial blanket module (No.12) have been carried out using RELAP5/Mod3.4 code. Two design basis accidents are investigated based on the steady-state initialization, including Loss of Off-Site Power and In-Box Loss of Coolant Accident (LOCA). The differences between circulator coast down and circulator rotor locked under Loss of Off-Site Power are compared. Regarding the In-Box LOCA, the influences of different break sizes and locations are thoroughly analyzed based on a relatively accurate modeling method of the heat structures in sub-modules. The analysis results show that the blanket and the combined helium cooling system (HCS) are designed with sufficient decay heat removal capability for both accidents, which can preliminarily verify the feasibility of the conceptual design. The research work can also provide an important reference for parameter optimization of the blanket and its HCS in the next stage.

Solid tritium breeder materials-Li2O and LiAlO2: a data base review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Y.Y.; Billone, M.C.; Clemmer, R.G.; Fischer, A.K.; Hollenberg, G.W.; Tam, S.W.

1985-01-01

The fabrication, properties, and irradiation behavior of Li 2 O and γ-LiAlO 2 are reviewed and assessed to determine the potential of these materials to satisfy the basic solid breeder blanket performance requirements. Based on the data analysis and theoretical modeling, a set of major technical uncertainties is identified. These uncertainties include: fabricability of sphere-pac solid breeders; high fluence and burnup effects on thermal conductivity and microstructural stability; high fluence and burnup effects on tritium diffusion coefficients at low temperature; relationship among purge flow chemistry, surface adsorption, and species of released tritium; and mechanical properties and the loads imposed on the structural materials by the breeder during blanket operation. Resolution of these issues is important in assuring that solid breeder blankets can be designed with confidence

Materials data base and design equations for the UCLA solid breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharafat, S.; Amodeo, R.; Ghoniem, N.M.

1986-02-01

The materials and properties investigated for this blanket study are listed. The phenomenological equations and mathematical fits for all materials and properties considered are given. Efforts to develop a swelling equation based on the few experimental data points available for breeder materials are described. The sintering phenomena for ceramics is investigated

Design and R and D activities on ceramic breeder blanket for fusion experimental reactors in JAERI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurasawa, T.; Takatsu, H.; Sato, S.; Nakahira, M.; Furuya, K.; Hashimoto, T.; Kawamura, H.; Kuroda, T.; Tsunematsu, T.; Seki, M.

1995-01-01

Design and R and D activities on ceramic breeder blanket of a fusion experimental reactor have been progressed in JAERI. A layered pebble bed type ceramic breeder blanket with water cooling is a prime candidate concept. Design activities have been concentrated on improvement of the design by conducting detailed analyses and also by fabrication procedure consideration based on the current technologies. A wide variety of R and Ds have also been conducted in accordance with the design activities. Development of fabrication technology of the blanket box structure and its mechanical testing, elementary testing on thermal performances of the pebble bed, and engineering-oriented material tests of breeder and beryllium pebbles are the main achievements during the last two years. (orig.)

Design and development of ceramic breeder demo blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enoeda, M.; Sato, S.; Hatano, T.

2001-01-01

Ceramic breeder blanket development has been widely conducted in Japan from fundamental researches to project-oriented engineering scaled development. A long term R and D program has been launched in JAERI since 1996 as a course of DEMO blanket development. The objectives of this program are to provide engineering data base and fabrication technologies of the DEMO blanket, aiming at module testing in ITER currently scheduled to start from the beginning of the ITER operation as a near-term target. Two types of DEMO blanket systems, water cooled blanket and helium cooled blanket, have been designed to be consistent with the SSTR (Steady State Tokamak Reactor) which is the reference DEMO reactor design in JAERI. Both of them utilize packed small pebbles of breeder Li 2 O or Li 2 TiO 3 as a candidate) and neutron multiplier (Be) and rely on the development of advanced structural materials (a reduced activation ferritic steel F82H) compatible with high temperature operation. (author)

Thermomechanical analysis of solid breeders in sphere-pac, plate, and pellet configurations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blanchard, J.P.; Ghoniem, N.M.

1986-02-01

The first configuration studied is called sphere-pac. It features small breeder spheres of three different diameters, thus allowing efficient packing and minimal void fraction. The concept originated as an attempt to minimize thermal stresses in the breeder and improve the predictability of the breeder-structure interface heat conduction. In general the breeder is made as thin as possible, to maximize the breeding ratio, so the cladding's integrity will likely be the life-limiting issue of this concept. The third breeder configuration is in the form of pellets cladded by steel tubes. The major thermomechanical issue of the pin-type designs is cracking, which would impair the thermal performance of the blanket. Fortunately, the pins can be sized to prevent cracking under normal operation. In this report we have treated each blanket generically, dealing with basic issues rather than design specifics. Our basic philosophy is to avoid cracking of the breeder if at all possible. It can be argued that cracking could be allowed, but this would sacrifice predictability of the blanket thermal performance and tritium release characteristics. Proper design can and should minimize breeder cracking

Engineering structure design and fabrication process of small sized China helium-cooled solid breeder test blanket module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Zeming; Chen Lu; Hu Gang

2014-01-01

Preliminary design and analysis for china helium-cooled solid breeder (CHHC-SB) test blanket module (TBM) have been carried out recently. As partial verification that the original size module was reasonable and the development process was feasible, fabrication work of a small sized module was to be carried out targetedly. In this paper, detailed design and structure analysis of small sized TBM was carried out based on preliminary design work, fabrication process and integrated assembly process was proposed, so a fabrication for the trial engineering of TBM was layed successfully. (authors)

Design of the breeder units in the new HCPB modular blanket concept and material requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boccaccini, L.V.; Fischer, U.; Hermsmeyer, S.; Reimann, J.; Xu, Z.; Koehly, C.

2004-01-01

A major revision of the DEMO HCPB blanket concept took place in 2002-2003 as consequence of the results of the EU Power Plant Conceptual Study. In particular, it was decided to give up the previous maintenance schema based on segments in favour of a large module concept extrapolated from ITER. The adaptation of the HCPB concept to these modules (typical dimension at the FW of 2.0 x 2.0 m) required a complete revision of the box. The coolant flow scheme is based on a radial He flow (at 8 MPa) in order to have the entire manifold system in the rear part of the box. Furthermore, the requirement of a box capable of withstanding the coolant pressure of 8 MPa in case of an in-box LOCA led to a design of modules with an internal stiffening grid in toroidal and poloidal direction This grid results in cells open in the rear radial direction with toroidal-poloidal dimensions of about 20 cm x 20 cm that accommodate the breeder units. These units contain the ceramic breeder (CB) and the Beryllium in form of pebble beds and have to assure the main functions of the blanket, namely, a tritium breeding ratio significantly above one, heat removal with a temperature control in the beds and in the structure, mechanical stability of the beds and extraction of the produced tritium. Due to the relatively high quantity of steel necessary to assure the mechanical stability of the box, a strong requirement for the design of these units is to minimise the amount of steel to improve the neutronic performance. A satisfactory design has been achieved with a radial-toroidal bed configuration similar to the old DEMO design reaching the Tritium self-sufficiency with a radial depth of 47 cm, using monosized Beryllium and CB beds and, using Li 4 SiO 4 , a 6 Li enrichment of about 40%. This design allows a satisfactory control of the maximum acceptable temperatures in the CB and Be beds and the steel structure. The design of the breeder units has not been yet analysed thermo-mechanically in detail

Neutronic analyses of design issues affecting the tritium breeding performance in different DEMO blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pereslavtsev, Pavel; Bachmann, Christian; Fischer, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Realistic 3D MCNP model based on the CAD engineering model of DEMO. • Automated procedure for the generation and arrangement of the blanket modules for different DEMO concepts: HCPB, HCLL, WCLL, DCLL. • Several parameters affecting tritium breeding ratio (TBR) were investigated. • A set of practical guidelines was prepared for the designers developing the individual breeding blanket concepts. - Abstract: Neutronic analyses were performed to assess systematically the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) variations in the DEMO for the different blanket concepts HCPB, HCLL, WCLL and DCLL DEMOs due to modifications of the blanket configurations. A dedicated automated procedure was developed to fill the breeding modules in the common generic model in correspondence to the different concepts. The TBR calculations were carried out using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo code. The following parameters affecting the global TBR were investigated: TBR poloidal distribution, radial breeder zone depth, "6Li enrichment, steel content in the breeder modules, poloidal segmentation of the breeder blanket volume, size of gaps between blankets, thickness of the first wall and of the tungsten armour. Based on the results a set of practical guidelines was prepared for the designers developing the individual breeding blanket concepts with the goal to achieve the required tritium breeding performance in DEMO.

Neutronic analyses of design issues affecting the tritium breeding performance in different DEMO blanket concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pereslavtsev, Pavel, E-mail: pavel.pereslavtsev@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Bachmann, Christian [EUROfusion – Programme Management Unit, Boltzmannstrasse 2, 85748 Garching (Germany); Fischer, Ulrich [Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Realistic 3D MCNP model based on the CAD engineering model of DEMO. • Automated procedure for the generation and arrangement of the blanket modules for different DEMO concepts: HCPB, HCLL, WCLL, DCLL. • Several parameters affecting tritium breeding ratio (TBR) were investigated. • A set of practical guidelines was prepared for the designers developing the individual breeding blanket concepts. - Abstract: Neutronic analyses were performed to assess systematically the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) variations in the DEMO for the different blanket concepts HCPB, HCLL, WCLL and DCLL DEMOs due to modifications of the blanket configurations. A dedicated automated procedure was developed to fill the breeding modules in the common generic model in correspondence to the different concepts. The TBR calculations were carried out using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo code. The following parameters affecting the global TBR were investigated: TBR poloidal distribution, radial breeder zone depth, {sup 6}Li enrichment, steel content in the breeder modules, poloidal segmentation of the breeder blanket volume, size of gaps between blankets, thickness of the first wall and of the tungsten armour. Based on the results a set of practical guidelines was prepared for the designers developing the individual breeding blanket concepts with the goal to achieve the required tritium breeding performance in DEMO.

Activation analysis of Chinese ITER helium cooled solid breeder test blanket module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Jingru; Chen Yixue; Ma Xubo; Wang Shouhai; Forrest, R.A.

2009-01-01

Based on the Chinese ITER helium cooled solid breeder(CH-HCSB) test blanket module (TBM) of the 3 x 6 sub-modules options, the activation characteristics of the TBM were calculated. Three-dimensional neutronic calculations were performed using the Monte-Carlo code MCNP and the nuclear data library FENDL/2. Furthermore, the activation calculations of HCSB-TBM were carried out with the European activation system EASY-2007. At shutdown the total activity is 1.29 x 10 16 Bq, and the total afterheat is 2.46 kW. They are both dominated by the Eurofer steel. The activity and afterheat are both in the safe range of TBM design, and will not have a great impact on the environment. Meanwhile,on basis of the calculated contact dose rate, the activated materials can be re-used following the remote handling recycling options. The activation results demonstrate that the current HCSB-TBM design can satisfy the ITER safety design requirements from the activation point of view. (authors)

Preconceptual design and analysis of a solid-breeder blanket test in an existing fission reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deis, G.A.; Hsu, P.Y.; Watts, K.D.

1983-01-01

Preconceptual design and analysis have been performed to examine the capabilities of a proposed fission-based test of a water-cooled Li 2 O blanket concept. The mechanical configuration of the test piece is designed to simulate a unit cell of a breeder-outside-tube concept. This test piece will be placed in a fission test reactor, which provides an environment similar to that in a fusion reactor. The neutron/gamma flux from the reactor produces prototypical power density, tritium production rates, and operating temperatures and stresses. Steady-state tritium recovery from the test piece can be attained in short-duration (5-to-6-day) tests. The capabilities of this test indicate that fission-based testing can provide important near-term engineering information to support the development of fusion technology

Tritium inventory and permeation in liquid breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiter, F.

1990-01-01

This report reviews studies of the transport of hydrogen isotopes in the DEMO relevant water-cooled Pb-17Li blanket to be tested in NET and in a self-cooled blanket which uses Pb-17Li or Flibe as a liquid breeder material and V or Fe as a first wall material. The time dependences of tritium inventory and permeation in these blankets and of deuterium and tritium recycling in the self-cooled blanket are presented and discussed

Progress in fusion reactors blanket analysis and evaluation at CEA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proust, E.; Gervaise, F.; Carre, F.; Chevereau, G.; Doutriaux, D.

1986-09-01

In the frame of the recent CEA studies aiming at the development, evaluation and comparison of solid breeder blanket concepts in view of their adaptation to NET, the evaluation of specific questions related to the first wall design, the present paper examines first the performances of a helium cooled toroidal blanket design for NET, based on innovative Beryllium/Ceramics breeder rod elements. Neutronic and thermo-mechanical optimisation converges on a concept featured by a breeding capability in excess of 1.2, a reasonnable pumping power of 1% and a narrow breeder temperature range (470+-30 deg C of the breeder), the latter being largely independent of the power level. This design proves naturally adapted to ceramic breeder assigned to very strict working conditions, and provides for any change in the thermal and heat transfer characteristics over the blanket lifetime. The final section of the paper is devoted to the evaluation of the heat load poloidal distribution and to the irradiation effects on first wall structural materials

EU DEMO blanket concepts safety assessment. Final report of Working Group 6a of the Blanket Concept Selection Exercise

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleefeldt, K.; Porfiri, T.

1996-06-01

The European Union has been engaged since 1989 in a programme to develop tritium breeding blankets for application in a fusion power reactor. There are four blanket concepts under development. Two of them use lithium ceramics, the other two concepts employ an eutectic lead-lithium alloy (Pb-17Li) as breeder material. The two most promising concepts were to select in 1995 for further development. In order to prepare the selection, a Blanket Concept Selection Exercise (BCSE) has been inititated by the participating associations under the auspices of the European Commission. This BCSE has been performed in 14 working groups which, in a comparative evaluation of the four blanket concepts, addressed specific fields. The working group safety addressed the safety implications. This report describes the methodology adopted, the safety issues identified, their comparative evaluation for the four concepts, and the results and conclusions of the working group to be entered into the overall evaluation. There, the results from all 14 working groups have been combined to yield a final ranking as a basis for the selection. In summary, the safety assessment showed that the four European blanket concepts can be considered as equivalent in terms of the safety rating adopted, each concept, however, rendering safety concerns of different quality in different areas which are substantiated in this report. (orig.) [de

Analysis of mechanical effects caused by plasma disruptions in the European BOT solid breeder blanket design with MANET as structural material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boccaccini, L.V.; Ruatto, P.

1994-01-01

The Karlsruhe Nuclear Center is developing, through design and experimental work, a BOT (Breeder Out of Tube) Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Blanket for a DEMO application. One of the crucial problems in the blanket design is to demonstrate the capability of the structure to withstand the mechanical effects of a major plasma disruption as extrapolated to DEMO from the experience of present machines. In this paper the results of the assessment work are presented; the acceptability of the design is discussed on the basis of a stress analysis of the structure under combined thermal and electromagnetic loads. The martensitic steel MANET has been chosen as structural material, because it is able to withstand the high neutron fluence in Demo (70 dpa) without appreciably swelling and has good thermal-mechanical properties - lower thermal expansion and higher strength - in comparison to AISI 316L steel. As far as it concerns the mechanical effects of plasma disruptions, MANET presents two important features which have been carefully investigated in the assessment: the magnetic properties of the material and the degradation of the fracture toughness behavior under irradiation

Proceedings of the sixth international workshop on ceramic breeder blanket interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noda, Kenji

1998-03-01

This report is the Proceedings of ''the Sixth International Workshop on Ceramic Breeder Blanket Interactions'' which was held as a workshop on ceramic breeders under Annex II of IEA Implementing Agreement on a Programme of Research and Development on Fusion Materials, and Japan-US Workshop 97FT4-01. This workshop was held in Mito city, Japan on October 22-24, 1997. About forty experts from EU, Japan, USA, and Chile attended the workshop. The scope of the workshop included the following: 1) fabrication and characterization of ceramic breeders, 2) properties data for ceramic breeders, 3) tritium release characteristics, 4) modeling of tritium behavior, 5) irradiation effects on performance behavior, 6) blanket design and R and D requirements, 7) hydrogen behavior in materials, and 8) blanket system technology and structural materials. In the workshop, information exchange was performed for fabrication technology of ceramic breeder pebbles in EU and Japan, data of various properties of Li 2 TiO 3 , tritium release behavior of Li 2 TiO 3 and Li 2 ZrO 3 including tritium diffusion, modeling of tritium release from Li 2 ZrO 3 in ITER condition, helium release behavior from Li 2 O, results of tritium release irradiation tests of Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles in EXOTIC-7, R and D issues for ceramic breeders for ITER and DEMO blankets, etc. The 23 of the papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Activation analysis and waste management of China ITER helium cooled solid breeder test blanket module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Han, J.R., E-mail: hanjingru@163.co [North China Electric Power University, School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Zhu-Xin-Zhuang, De-Wai, Beijing 102206 (China); Chen, Y.X.; Han, R. [North China Electric Power University, School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Zhu-Xin-Zhuang, De-Wai, Beijing 102206 (China); Feng, K.M. [Southwestern Institute of Physics, P.O.Box 432, Chengdu 610041 (China); Forrest, R.A. [EURATOM/UKAEA Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon (United Kingdom)

2010-08-15

Activation characteristics have been assessed for the ITER China helium cooled solid breeder (CH-HCSB) 3 x 6 test blanket module (TBM). Taking a representative irradiation scenario, the activation calculations were performed by FISPACT code. Neutron fluxes distributions in the TBM were provided by a preceding MCNP calculation. These fluxes were passed to FISPACT for the activation calculation. The main activation parameters of the HCSB-TBM were calculated and discussed, such as activity, afterheat and contact dose rate. Meanwhile, the dominant radioactivity nuclides and reaction channel pathways have been identified. According to the Safety and Environmental Assessment of Fusion Power (SEAFP) waste management strategy, the activated materials can be re-used following the remote handling recycling options. The results will provide useful indications for further optimization design and waste management of the TBM.

Proceedings of the sixth international workshop on ceramic breeder blanket interactions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Noda, Kenji [ed.

1998-03-01

This report is the Proceedings of `the Sixth International Workshop on Ceramic Breeder Blanket Interactions` which was held as a workshop on ceramic breeders under Annex II of IEA Implementing Agreement on a Programme of Research and Development on Fusion Materials, and Japan-US Workshop 97FT4-01. This workshop was held in Mito city, Japan on October 22-24, 1997. About forty experts from EU, Japan, USA, and Chile attended the workshop. The scope of the workshop included the following: (1) fabrication and characterization of ceramic breeders, (2) properties data for ceramic breeders, (3) tritium release characteristics, (4) modeling of tritium behavior, (5) irradiation effects on performance behavior, (6) blanket design and R and D requirements, (7) hydrogen behavior in materials, and (8) blanket system technology and structural materials. In the workshop, information exchange was performed for fabrication technology of ceramic breeder pebbles in EU and Japan, data of various properties of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3}, tritium release behavior of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} and Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} including tritium diffusion, modeling of tritium release from Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} in ITER condition, helium release behavior from Li{sub 2}O, results of tritium release irradiation tests of Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} pebbles in EXOTIC-7, R and D issues for ceramic breeders for ITER and DEMO blankets, etc. The 23 of the papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

Comparison of inventory of tritium in various ceramic breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishikawa, M.; Beloglazov, S.; Nakashima, N.; Hashimoto, K.; Enoeda, M.

2002-01-01

It has been pointed out by the present authors that it is essential to understand such mass transfer steps as diffusion of tritium in the grain of breeder material, absorption of water vapor into bulk of the grain, and adsorption of water on surface of the grain, together with the isotope exchange reaction between hydrogen in purge gas and tritium on surface of breeder material and the isotope exchange reaction between water vapor in purge gas and tritium on surface, for estimation of the tritium inventory in a uniform ceramic breeder blanket under the steady-state condition. It has been also pointed out by the present authors that the water formation reaction on the surface of ceramic breeder materials at introduction of hydrogen can give effect on behavior of bred tritium and lithium transfer in blanket. The tritium inventory for various ceramic breeder blankets are compared in this study basing on adsorption capacity, absorption capacity, isotope exchange capacity, and isotope exchange reactions on the Li 2 O, LiAlO 2 , Li 2 ZrO 3 , Li 4 SiO 4 and Li 2 TiO 3 surface experimentally obtained by the present authors. Effect of each mass transfer steps on the shape of release curve of bred tritium at change of the operational conditions is also discussed from the observation at out pile experiment in KUR. (orig.)

First results of the post-irradiation examination of the Ceramic Breeder materials from the Pebble Bed Assemblies Irradiation for the HCPB Blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hegeman, J.; Magielsen, A.J.; Peeters, M.; Stijkel, M.P.; Fokkens, J.H.; Laan, J.G. van der

2006-01-01

In the framework of developing the European Helium Cooled Pebble-Bed (HCPB) blanket an irradiation test of pebble-bed assemblies is performed in the HFR Petten. The experiment is focused on the thermo-mechanical behavior of the HCPB type breeder pebble-bed at DEMO representative levels of temperature and defined thermal-mechanical loads. To achieve representative conditions a section of the HCPB is simulated by EUROFER-97 cylinders with a horizontal bed of ceramic breeder pebbles sandwiched between two beryllium beds. Floating Eurofer-97 steel plates separate the pebble-beds. The structural integrity of the ceramic breeder materials is an issue for the design of the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed concept. Therefore the objective of the post irradiation examination is to study deformation of pebbles and the pebble beds and to investigate the microstructure of the ceramic pebbles from the Pebble Bed Assemblies. This paper concentrates on the Post Irradiation Examination (PIE) of the four ceramic pebble beds that have been irradiated in the Pebble Bed Assembly experiment for the HCPB blanket concept. Two assemblies with Li 4 SiO 4 pebble-beds are operated at different maximum temperatures of approximately 600 o C and 800 o C. Post irradiation computational analysis has shown that both have different creep deformation. Two other assemblies have been loaded with a ceramic breeder bed of two types of Li 2 TiO 3 beds having different sintering temperatures and consequently different creep behavior. The irradiation maximum temperature of the Li 2 TiO 3 was 800 o C. To support the first PIE result, the post irradiation thermal analysis will be discussed because thermal gradients have influence on the pebble-bed thermo-mechanical behavior and as a result it may have impact on the structural integrity of the ceramic breeder materials. (author)

Advanced high performance solid wall blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Malang, S.; Nishio, S.; Raffray, R.; Sagara, A.

2002-01-01

First wall and blanket (FW/blanket) design is a crucial element in the performance and acceptance of a fusion power plant. High temperature structural and breeding materials are needed for high thermal performance. A suitable combination of structural design with the selected materials is necessary for D-T fuel sufficiency. Whenever possible, low afterheat, low chemical reactivity and low activation materials are desired to achieve passive safety and minimize the amount of high-level waste. Of course the selected fusion FW/blanket design will have to match the operational scenarios of high performance plasma. The key characteristics of eight advanced high performance FW/blanket concepts are presented in this paper. Design configurations, performance characteristics, unique advantages and issues are summarized. All reviewed designs can satisfy most of the necessary design goals. For further development, in concert with the advancement in plasma control and scrape off layer physics, additional emphasis will be needed in the areas of first wall coating material selection, design of plasma stabilization coils, consideration of reactor startup and transient events. To validate the projected performance of the advanced FW/blanket concepts the critical element is the need for 14 MeV neutron irradiation facilities for the generation of necessary engineering design data and the prediction of FW/blanket components lifetime and availability

First wall and blanket design for the STARFIRE commercial tokamak power reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, G.D.; Trachsel, C.A.; Cramer, B.A.; Bowers, D.A.; Smith, D.L.

1979-01-01

The first wall and blanket design concepts being evaluated for the STARFIRE commercial tokamak reactor study are presented. The two concepts represent different approaches to the mechanical design of a tritium breeding blanket using the reference materials options. Each concept has a separate ferritic steel first wall cooled by heavy water (D 2 O), and a ferritic steel blanket with solid lithium oxide breeder cooled by helium. A separate helium purge system is used in both concepts to extract tritium. The two concepts are compared and relative advantages and disadvantages for each are discussed

Lithium ceramics as the solid breeder material in fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hollenberg, G.W.; Reuther, T.C.; Johnson, C.E.

1982-03-01

Fusion blanket designs have for almost a decade considered the use of a solid breeder relying on available data and assumed performance. The conclusion from these studies is that acceptable neutronic and thermal hydraulic performance can be achieved. In the future, it will be necessary to establish that a particular material can tolerate the thermal and irradiation environment of the fusion blanket while still providing the required functions of tritium recovery, power production and neutron shielding

Fusion breeder sphere - PAC blanket design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sullivan, J.D.; Palmer, B.J.F.

1987-11-01

There is a considerable world-wide effort directed toward the production of materials for fusion reactors. Many ceramic fabrication groups are working on making lithium ceramics in a variety of forms, to be incorporated into the tritium breeding blanket which will surround the fusion reactor. Current blanket designs include ceramic in either monolithic or packed sphere bed (sphere-pac) forms. The major thrust at AECL is the production of lithium aluminate spheres to be incorporated in a sphere-pac bed. Contemporary studies on breeder blanket design offer little insight into the requirements on the sizes of the spheres. This study examined the parameters which determine the properties of pressure drop and coolant requirements. It was determined that an optimised sphere-pac bed would be composed of two diameters of spheres: 75 weight % at 3 mm and 25 weight % at 0.3 mm

US-DOE Fusion-Breeder Program: blanket design and system performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.D.

1983-01-01

Conceptual design studies are being used to assess the technical and economic feasibility of fusion's potential to produce fissile fuel. A reference design of a fission-suppressed blanket using conventional materials is under development. Theoretically, a fusion breeder that incorporates this fusion-suppressed blanket surrounding a 3000-MW tandem mirror fusion core produces its own tritium plus 5600 kg of 233 U per year. The 233 U could then provide fissile makeup for 21 GWe of light-water reactor (LWR) power using a denatured thorium fuel cycle with full recycle. This is 16 times the net electric power produced by the fusion breeder (1.3 GWe). The cost of electricity from this fusion-fission system is estimated to be only 23% higher than the cost from LWRs that have makeup from U 3 O 8 at present costs (55 $/kg). Nuclear performance, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), radiation effects, and other issues concerning the fission-suppressed blanket are summarized, as are some of the present and future objectives of the fusion breeder program

TOKOPS: Tokamak Reactor Operations Study: The influence of reactor operations on the design and performance of tokamaks with solid-breeder blankets: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conn, R.W.; Ghoniem, N.M.; Firestone, M.A.

1986-09-01

Reactor system operation and procedures have a profound impact on the conception and design of power plants. These issues are studied here using a model tokamak system employing a solid-breeder blanket. The model blanket is one which has evolved from the STARFIRE and BCSS studies. The reactor parameters are similar to those characterizing near-term fusion engineering reactors such as INTOR or NET (Next European Tokamak). Plasma startup, burn analysis, and methods for operation at various levels of output power are studied. A critical, and complicating, element is found to be the self-consistent electromagnetic response of the system, including the presence of the blanket and the resulting forces and loadings. Fractional power operation, and the strategy for burn control, is found to vary depending on the scaling law for energy confinement, and an extensive study is reported. Full-power reactor operation is at a neutron wall loading pf 5 MW/m 2 and a surface heat flux of 1 MW/m 2 . The blanket is a pressurized steel module with bare beryllium rods and low-activation HT-9-(9-C-) clad LiAlO 2 rods. The helium coolant pressure is 5 MPa, entering the module at 297 0 C and exiting at 550 0 C. The system power output is rated at 1000 MW(e). In this report, we present our findings on various operational scenarios and their impact on system design. We first start with the salient aspects of operational physics. Time-dependent analyses of the blanket and balance of plant are then presented. Separate abstracts are included for each chapter

Economic evaluation of the Blanket Comparison and Selection Study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waganer, L.M.

1985-01-01

The economic impact of employing the highly ranked blankets in the Blanket Comparison and Selection Study (BCSS) was evaluated in the context of both a tokamak and a tandem mirror power reactor (TMR). The economic evaluation criterion was determined to be the cost of electricity. The influencing factors that were considered are the direct cost of the blankets and related systems; the annual cost of blanket replacement; and the performance of the blanket, heat transfer, and energy conversion systems. The technical and cost bases for comparison were those of the STARFIRE and Mirror Advanced Reactor Study conceptual design power plants. The economic evaluation results indicated that the nitrate-salt-cooled blanket concept is an economically attractive concept for either reactor type. The water-cooled, solid breeder blanket is attractive for the tokamak and somewhat less attractive for the TMR. The helium-cooled, liquidlithium breeder blanket is the least economically desirable of higher ranked concepts. The remaining self-cooled liquid-metal and the helium-cooled blanket concepts represent moderately attractive concepts from an economic standpoint. These results are not in concert with those found in the other BCSS evaluation areas (engineering feasibility, safety, and research and development (R and D) requirements). The blankets faring well economically had generally lower cost components, lower pumping power requirements, and good power production capability. On the other hand, helium- and lithium-cooled systems were preferred from the standpoints of safety, engineering feasibility, and R and D requirements

An assessment of the base blanket for ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raffray, A.R.; Abdou, M.A.; Ying, A.

1991-01-01

Ideally, the ITER base blanket would provide the necessary tritium for the reactor to be self-sufficient during operation, while having minimal impact on the overall reactor cost, reliability and safety. A solid breeder blanket has been developed in CDA phase in an attempt to achieve such objectives. The reference solid breeder base blanket configurations at the end of the CDA phase has many attractive features such as a tritium breeding ratio (TBR) of 0.8--0.9 and a reasonably low tritium inventory. However, some concerns regarding the risk, cost and benefit of the base blanket have been raised. These include uncertainties associated with the solid breeder thermal control and the potentially high cost of the amount of Be used to achieve high TBR and to provide the necessary thermal barrier between the high temperature solid breeder and low temperature coolant. This work addresses these concerns. The basis for the selection of a breeding blanket is first discussed in light of the incremental risk, cost and benefits relative to a non-breeding blanket. Key issues associated with the CDA breeding blanket configurations are then analyzed. Finally, alternative schemes that could enhance the attractiveness and flexibility of a breeding blanket are explored

Convertible shielding to ceramic breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuya, Kazuyuki; Kurasawa, Toshimasa; Sato, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka; Togami, Ikuhide; Hashimoto, Toshiyuki; Takatsu, Hideyuki; Kuroda, Toshimasa.

1995-05-01

Four concepts have been studied for the ITER convertible blanket: 1)Layered concept 2)BIT(Breeder-Inside-Tube)concept 3)BOT(Breeder-Out of-Tube)concept 4)BOT/mixed concept. All concepts use ceramic breeder and beryllium neutron multiplier, both in the shape of small spherical pebbles, 316SS structure, and H 2 O coolant (inlet/outlet temperatures : 100/150degC, pressure : 2 MPa). During the BPP, only beryllium pebbles (the primary pebble in case of BOT/mixed concept) are filled in the blanket for shielding purpose. Then, before the EPP operation, breeder pebbles will be additionally inserted into the blanket. Among possible conversion methods, wet method by liquid flow seems expecting for high and homogeneous pebble packing. Preliminary 1-D neutronics calculation shows that the BOT/mixed concept has the highest breeding and shielding performance. However, final selection should be done by R and D's and more detail investigation on blanket characteristics and fabricability. Required R and D's are also listed. With these efforts, the convertible blanket can be developed. However, the following should be noted. Though many of above R and D's are also necessary even for non-convertible blanket, R and D's on convertibility will be one of the most difficult parts and need significant efforts. Besides the installation of convertible blanket with required structures and lines for conversion will make the ITER basic machine more complicated. (author)

Neutronic performance optimization study of Indian fusion demo reactor first wall and breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swami, H.L.; Danani, C.

2015-01-01

In frame of design studies of Indian Nuclear Fusion DEMO Reactor, neutronic performance optimization of first wall and breeding blanket are carried out. The study mainly focuses on tritium breeding ratio (TBR) and power density responses estimation of breeding blanket. Apart from neutronic efficiency of existing breeding blanket concepts for Indian DEMO i.e. lead lithium ceramic breeder and helium cooled solid breeder concept other concepts like helium cooled lead lithium and helium-cooled Li_8PbO_6 with reflector are also explored. The aim of study is to establish a neutronically efficient breeding blanket concept for DEMO. Effect of first wall materials and thickness on breeding blanket neutronic performance is also evaluated. For this study 1 D cylindrical neutronic model of DEMO has been constructed according to the preliminary radial build up of Indian DEMO. The assessment is being done using Monte Carlo based radiation transport code and nuclear cross section data file ENDF/B- VII. (author)

Progress on solid breeder TBM at SWIP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng, K.M.; Pan, C.H.; Zhang, G.S.; Luo, T.Y.; Zhao, Z.; Chen, Y.J.; Ye, X.F.; Hu, G.; Wang, P.H.; Yuan, T.; Feng, Y.J.; Xiang, B.; Zhang, L.; Wang, Q.J.; Cao, Q.X.; Li, Z.X.; Wang, F.

2010-01-01

Current progress on the design and R and D of Chinese helium-cooled solid breeder test blanket module, CN HCSB TBM is presented. The updated design on structural, neutronics, thermal-hydraulics and safety analysis has been completed. In order to accommodate the HCSB TBM ancillary system, the design and necessary R and Ds corresponding sub-systems have being developed. Current status on the development of function materials, structure material and the helium test loop are also presented. The Chinese low-activation ferritic/martensitic steels CLF-1, which is the structural material for the HCSB TBM is being manufactured by industry. The neutron multiplier Be and tritium breeder Li 4 SiO 4 pebbles are being prepared in laboratory scale.

Fusion Breeder Program interim report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moir, R.; Lee, J.D.; Neef, W.

1982-01-01

This interim report for the FY82 Fusion Breeder Program covers work performed during the scoping phase of the study, December, 1981-February 1982. The goals for the FY82 study are the identification and development of a reference blanket concept using the fission suppression concept and the definition of a development plan to further the fusion breeder application. The context of the study is the tandem mirror reactor, but emphasis is placed upon blanket engineering. A tokamak driver and blanket concept will be selected and studied in more detail during FY83

Flibe blanket concept for transmuting transuranic elements and long lived fission products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

2000-01-01

A Molten salt (Flibe) fusion blanket concept has been developed to solve the disposition problems of the spent nuclear fuel and the transuranic elements. This blanket concept can achieve the top rated solution, the complete elimination of the transuranic elements and the long-lived fission products. Small driven fusion devices with low neutron wall loading and low neutron fluence can perform this function. A 344-MW integrated fusion power from D-T plasmas for thirty years with an availability factor of 0.75 can dispose of 70,000 tons of the US inventory of spent nuclear fuel generated up to the year 2015. In addition, the utilization of this blanket concept eliminates the need for a geological repository site, which is a major advantage. This application provides an excellent opportunity to develop and to enhance the public acceptance of the fusion energy for the future. The energy from the transmutation process is utilized to produce revenue. Flibe, lithium-lead eutectic, and liquid lead are possible candidates. The liquid blankets have several features, which are suited for W application. It can operate at constant thermal power without interruption for refueling by adjusting the concentration of the transuranic elements and lithium-6. These liquids operate at low-pressure, which reduces the primary stresses in the structure material. Development and fabrication costs of solid transuranic materials are eliminated. Burnup limit of the transuranic elements due to radiation effects is eliminated. Heat is generated within the liquid, which simplifies the heat removal process without producing thermal stresses. These blanket concepts have large negative temperature coefficient with respect to the blanket reactivity, which enhances the safety performance. These liquids are chemically and thermally stable under irradiation conditions, which minimize the radioactive waste volume. The operational record of the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor with Flibe was very successful

R and D status on Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket Technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Enoeda, Mikio, E-mail: enoeda.mikio@jaea.go.jp; Tanigawa, Hisashi; Hirose, Takanori; Nakajima, Motoki; Sato, Satoshi; Ochiai, Kentaro; Konno, Chikara; Kawamura, Yoshinori; Hayashi, Takumi; Yamanishi, Toshihiko; Hoshino, Tsuyoshi; Nakamichi, Masaru; Tanigawa, Hiroyasu; Nishi, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Satoshi; Ezato, Koichiro; Seki, Yohji; Yokoyama, Kenji

2014-10-15

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is performing the development of a Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) as one of the most important steps toward DEMO blanket. Regarding the blanket module fabrication technology development using F82H, the fabrication of a real scale mockup of the back wall of TBM was completed. In the design activity of the TBM, electromagnetic analysis under plasma disruption events and thermo-mechanical analysis under steady state and transient state of tokamak operation have been performed and showed bright prospect toward design justification. Regarding the development of advanced breeder and multiplier pebbles for DEMO blanket, fabrication technology development of Li rich Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble and BeTi pebble was performed. Regarding the research activity on the evaluation of tritium generation performance, the evaluation of tritium production and recovery test using D-T neutron in the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) facility has been performed. This paper overviews the recent achievements of the development of the WCCB Blanket in JAEA.

Neutronic analysis of graphite-moderated solid breeder design for INTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, J.; Abdou, M.A.

1981-01-01

An in-depth analysis of the INTOR tritium-production-blanket design is presented. A ternary system of solid silicate breeder, lead neutron multiplier, and graphite moderator is explored primary from safety and blanket tritium-inventory considerations. Lithium-silicate (Li 2 SiO 3 ) breeder systems are studied along with water (H 2 O/D 2 O) and Type 316 stainless steel as coolant and structural material, respectively. The analysis examines the neutronics effects on tritium-production regarding: (1) coolant choice; (2) moderator choice; (3) moderator location; (4) multiplier thickness; (5) 6 Li enrichment; and (6) 6 Li burnup. The tritium-breeding-blanket modules are located at the top, outboard, and bottom (outer) parts of the torus, resulting in a breeding coverage of approx. 60% at the first-wall surface. It is found that the reference INTOR design yields, based on a three-dimensional analysis, a net tritium breeding ratio (BR) of approx. 0.65 at the beginning of reactor operation, satisfying the design criterion of BR > 0.6

Evaluation of organic moderator/coolants for fusion breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romero, J.B.

1980-03-01

Organic coolants have several attractive features for fusion breeder blanket design. Their apparent compatibility with lithium and their ideal physical and nuclear properties allows straight-forward, high performance designs. Radiolytic damage can be reduced to about the same order as comparable fission systems by using multiplier/stripper blanket designs. Tritium recovery from the organic should be straightforward, but additional data is needed to make a better assessment of the economics of the process

Progress in design and analysis of the net water cooled liquid breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Danner, W.; Rieger, M.; Verschuur, K.A.; Vieider, G.; Casini, G.; Chazalon, M.; Libin, B.; Farfaletti-Casali, F.; Piana, R.

1987-01-01

The NET liquid breeder blanket was subjected to a major design revision and integrated in the new NET-DN machine configuration. In this paper briefly the most essential design features are summarized and some results from thermohydraulics and 1D as well as 3D neutronics analyses are presented. It is concluded that the performance meets well the requirements of NET but that the concept needs substantial improvement if applied to a reactor

Prospects of ceramic tritium breeder materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, E.; Roux, N.; Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers; CEA Centre d'Etudes Nucleaires de Saclay, 91 - Gif-sur-Yvette

1989-01-01

In this paper the authors examine the prospects of the main ceramics proposed as breeder materials for fusion reactors, i.e. Li-2O, Li-2ZrO-3, LiAlO-2, Li-4SiO-4. To do so they review terms of reference of contemplated blankets for NET, ITER and DEMO, and the proposed blanket concepts and materials. Issues respective to the use of each breeder material are examined, and from this review it is concluded that ceramics are the most favorable breeder materials whose use can be contemplated as well for a driver blanket for NET or ITER and for a DEMO blanket. Ceramics are then compared between themselves and it is seen that, subject to the confirmation of recent experimental results, lithium zirconate could be used with advantage in any of the present blanket concepts, except in those employing lithium at its natural isotopic abundance, in which case only Li-2O can be used. However in specific cases, or in parts of a blanket, other ceramics may be profitably employed. As a general conclusion suggestions are made to further improve ceramic breeder performances, and it is recommended to intensify also work on problems that have to be solved in order to operate ceramic breeder blankets e.g. tritium extraction and recovery systems and conditions of beryllium use. (author). 37 refs.; 12 tabs

Tritium dynamics in fusion reactor solid breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Violante, V.

1986-01-01

In the field of the NET research progrm, the chemical and diffusive processes involved in solid ceramic breeder materials have been analysed. A mathematical model describing the phenomena has been developed to obtain a quantitative evaluation for a first design approach. The data obtained by means of the above mentioned model are in good agreement with the data obtained by other research groups working in Europe and in United States. The computer codes BLANKET2, MC2, FWBC, have been developed to simulate the phenomena

Ceramic sphere-pac breeder design for fusion blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gierszewski, P.J.; Sullivan, J.D.

1991-01-01

Randomly packed beds of ceramic spheres are a practical approach to surrounding fusion plasmas with tritium-breeding material. This paper examines the general properties of sphere-pac beds for application in fusion breeder blankets. The design considerations and models are reviewed for packing, tritium breeding and recovery, thermal conductivity, purge-gas pressure drop, mechanical behavior and fabrication. The design correlations are compared against available fusion ceramic data. Specific conclusions are that ternary (three-size) beds are not attractive for fusion blankets, and that the fusion spheres should be as large as possible subject primarily to packing constraints. (orig.)

Development of welding technologies for the manufacturing of European Tritium Breeder blanket modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poitevin, Y., E-mail: yves.poitevin@f4e.europa.eu [Fusion for Energy (F4E), Barcelona (Spain); Aubert, Ph. [CEA Saclay, DEN/DM2S and DEN/DMN, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Diegele, E. [Fusion for Energy (F4E), Barcelona (Spain); Dinechin, G. de [CEA Saclay, DEN/DM2S and DEN/DMN, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Rey, J. [Institut fuer Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, FZK, Karlsruhe (Germany); Rieth, M. [Institut fuer Materialforschung I, FZK, Karlsruhe (Germany); Rigal, E. [CEA Grenoble, DRT/DTH, F-38000 Grenoble (France); Weth, A. von der [Institut fuer Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, FZK, Karlsruhe (Germany); Boutard, J.-L. [European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA), Garching (Germany); Tavassoli, F. [CEA Saclay, DEN/DM2S and DEN/DMN, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

2011-10-01

Europe has developed two reference Tritium Breeder Blankets concepts for a DEMO fusion reactor: the Helium-Cooled Lithium-Lead and the Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed. Both are using the reduced-activation ferritic-martensitic EUROFER-97 steel as structural material and will be tested in ITER under the form of test blanket modules. The fabrication of their EUROFER structures requires developing welding processes like laser, TIG, EB and diffusion welding often beyond the state-of-the-art. The status of European achievements in this area is reviewed, illustrating the variety of processes and key issues behind retained options, in particular with respect to metallurgical aspects and mechanical properties. Fabrication of mock-ups is highlighted and their characterization and performances with respect to design requirements are reviewed.

Status report. KfK contribution to the development of DEMO-relevant test blankets for NET/ITER. Pt. 1: Self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket. Vol. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Reimann, J.; Sebening, H.; Barleon, L.; Bogusch, E.; Bojarsky, E.; Borgstedt, H.U.; Buehler, L.; Casal, V.; Deckers, H.; Feuerstein, H.; Fischer, U.; Frees, G.; Graebner, H.; John, H.; Jordan, T.; Kramer, W.; Krieg, R.; Lenhart, L.; Malang, S.; Meyder, R.; Norajitra, P.; Reimann, J.; Schwenk-Ferrero, A.; Schnauder, H.; Stieglitz, R.; Oschinski, J.; Wiegner, E.

1991-12-01

A self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket for a fusion DEMO-reactor and the status of the development programme is described as a part of the European development programme of DEMO relevant test blankets for NET/ITER. Volume 1 (KfK 4907) contains a summary, Volume 2 (KfK 4908) a more detailed version of the report. Both volumes contain sections on previous studies on self-cooled liquid metal breeder blankets, the reference blanket design for a DEMO-reactor, a typical test blanket design including the ancillary loop system and the building requirements for NET/ITER together with the present status of the associated R and D-programme in the fields of neutronics, magnetohydrodynamics, tritium removal and recovery, liquid metal compatibility and purification, ancillary loop system, safety and reliability. An outlook is given regarding the required R and D-programme for the self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket prior to tests in NET/ITER and the relevant test programme to be performed in NET/ITER. (orig.) [de

Blanket Manufacturing Technologies : Thermomechanical Tests on HCLL Blanket Mocks Up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laffont, G.; Cachon, L.; Taraud, P.; Challet, F.; Rampal, G.; Salavy, J.F.

2006-01-01

In the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) Blanket concept, the lithium lead plays the double role of breeder and multiplier material, and the helium is used as coolant. The HCCL Blanket Module are made of steel boxes reinforced by stiffening plates. These stiffening plates form cells in which the breeder is slowly flowing. The power deposited in the breeder material is recovered by the breeder cooling units constituted by 5 parallel cooling plates. All the structures such as first wall, stiffening and cooling plates are cooled by helium. Due to the complex geometry of these parts and the high level of pressure and temperature loading, thermo-mechanical phenomena expected in the '' HCLL blanket concept '' have motivated the present study. The aim of this study, carried out in the frame of EFDA Work program, is to validate the manufacturing technologies of HCLL blanket module by testing small scale mock-up under breeder blanket representative operating conditions.The first step of this experimental program is the design and manufacturing of a relevant test section in the DIADEMO facility, which was recently upgraded with an He cooling loop (pressure of 80 bar, maximum temperature of 500 o C,flow rate of 30 g/s) taking the opportunity of synergies with the gas-cooled fission reactor R-and-D program. The second step will deal with the thermo-mechanical tests. This paper focuses on the program made to support the cooling plate mock up tests which will be carried out on the DIADEMO facility (CEA) by thermo-mechanical calculations in order to define the relevant test conditions and the experimental parameters to be monitored. (author)

New concepts for controlled fusion reactor blanket design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conn, R.W.; Kulcinski, G.L.; Avci, H.; El-Maghrabi, M.

1975-01-01

Several new concepts for fusion reactor blanket design based on the idea of shifting, or tailoring, the neutron spectrum incident on the first structural wall are presented. The spectral shifter is a nonstructural element which can be made of graphite, silicon carbide, or three dimensionally woven carbon fibers (and containing other materials as appropriate) placed between the neutron source and the first structural wall. The softened neutron spectrum incident on the structural components leads to lower gas production and atom displacement rates than in more standard fusion blanket designs. In turn, this results in longer anticipated lifetimes for the structural materials and can significantly reduce radioactivity and afterheat levels. In addition, the neutron spectrum in the first structural wall can be made to approach the flux shape in fast breeder reactors. Such spectral softening means that existing radiation facilities may be more profitably used to provide relevant materials radiation damage data for the structural materials in these fusion blanket designs. This general class of blanket concepts are referred to as internal spectral shifter and energy converter, or ISSEC concepts. These specific design concepts fall into three main categories: ISSEC/EB concepts based on utilizing existing designs which breed tritium behind the first structural wall; ISSEC/IB concepts based on breeding tritium inside the first vacuum wall; and ISSEC/Bu concepts based on using boron, carbon, and perhaps, beryllium to obtain an energy multiplier and converter design that does not attempt to breed tritium or utilize lithium. The detailed analyses relate specifically to the nuclear performance of ISSEC systems and to a discussion of materials radiation damage problems in the structural material.(U.S.)

Analysis of Time-Dependent Tritium Breeding Capability of Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket for CFETR

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Fangfang; Zhang, Xiaokang; Pu, Yong; Zhu, Qingjun; Liu, Songlin

2016-08-01

Attaining tritium self-sufficiency is an important mission for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR) operating on a Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) fuel cycle. It is necessary to study the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) and breeding tritium inventory variation with operation time so as to provide an accurate data for dynamic modeling and analysis of the tritium fuel cycle. A water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket is one candidate of blanket concepts for the CFETR. Based on the detailed 3D neutronics model of CFETR with the WCCB blanket, the time-dependent TBR and tritium surplus were evaluated by a coupling calculation of the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code (MCNP) and the fusion activation code FISPACT-2007. The results indicated that the TBR and tritium surplus of the WCCB blanket were a function of operation time and fusion power due to the Li consumption in breeder and material activation. In addition, by comparison with the results calculated by using the 3D neutronics model and employing the transfer factor constant from 1D to 3D, it is noted that 1D analysis leads to an over-estimation for the time-dependent tritium breeding capability when fusion power is larger than 1000 MW. supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Science Program of China (Nos. 2013GB108004, 2015GB108002, and 2014GB119000), and by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207)

DEM-CFD simulation of purge gas flow in a solid breeder pebble bed

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Hao [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027 (China); Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Li, Zhenghong [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027 (China); Guo, Haibing [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China); Ye, Minyou [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027 (China); Huang, Hongwen, E-mail: inpclane@sina.com [Institute of Nuclear Physics and Chemistry, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Mianyang 621900 (China)

2016-12-15

Solid tritium breeding blanket applying pebble bed concept is promising for fusion reactors. Tritium bred in the pebble bed is purged out by inert gas. The flow characteristics of the purge gas are important for the tritium transport from the solid breeder materials. In this study, a randomly packed pebble bed was generated by Discrete Element Method (DEM) and verified by radial porosity distribution. The flow parameters of the purge gas in channels were solved by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. The results show that the normalized velocity magnitudes have the same damped oscillating patterns with radial porosity distribution. Besides, the bypass flow near the wall cannot be ignored in this model, and it has a slight increase with inlet velocity. Furthermore, higher purging efficiency becomes with higher inlet velocity and especially higher in near wall region.

Production behavior of irradiation defects in solid breeder materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moriyama, Hirotake; Moritani, Kimikazu [Kyoto Univ. (Japan)

1998-03-01

The irradiation effects in solid breeder materials are important for the performance assessment of fusion reactor blanket systems. For a clearer understanding of such effects, we have studied the production behavior of irradiation defects in some lithium ceramics by an in-situ luminescence measurement technique under ion beam irradiation. The luminescence spectra were measured at different temperatures, and the temperature-transient behaviors of luminescence intensity were also measured. The production mechanisms of irradiation defects were discussed on the basis of the observations. (author)

Status of the European R and D on beryllium as multiplier material for breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moeslang, A.; Boccaccini, L.V.; Rabaglino, E.; Piazza, G.; Cardella, A.; Sannen, L.; Scibetta, M.; Laan, J. van der; Hegeman, J.B.J.W.

2004-01-01

Within the international fusion community a variety of breeding blanket concepts are being considered, ranging from more conservative concepts to higher-risk concepts for fusion power reactors. In Europe, the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) blanket is one of the two reference concepts which will also be tested as Test Blanket Module (TBM) in ITER. In addition to the R and D for structural parts of the HCPB blanket, a considerable effort is devoted to the production and qualification of ceramic breeder and neutron multiplier (beryllium or beryllide) pebble beds. Since in the HCPB blanket pebbles made of lithium ceramics are foreseen, a high volume fraction of beryllium as a neutron multiplier to Li-based ceramic of about 4: l is needed. The typical loading conditions for beryllium are, with a neutron wall load of ∼12.5 MWa/m 2 and in ∼5 years lifetime: T min ∼300degC, T max ∼600-900degC, displacement damage ∼80 dpa, peak 4 He production ∼26000 appm and peak 3 H production ∼700 appm at the End-Of-Life. The behaviour of beryllium under irradiation is considered to be a key issue of the HCPB blanket, because of swelling due to helium bubbles and tritium retention. A large R and D programme on beryllium has been implemented in Europe, aimed at characterising and predicting the material behaviour before and under irradiation. An overview on experimental and modelling activities performed during the past 2 years is given with typical results on non-irradiated and irradiated Beryllium materials and pebble beds and the relevance of major results on future beryllium R and D is addressed. (author)

Status report. KfK contribution to the development of DEMO-relevant test blankets for NET/ITER. Pt. 1: Self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket. Vol. 2. Detailed version

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John, H.; Malang, S.; Sebening, H.

1991-12-01

A self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket for a fusion DEMO-reactor and the status of the development programme is described as a part of the European development programme of DEMO relevant test blankets for NET/ITER. Volume 1 (KfK 4907) contains a summary. Volume 2 (KfK 4908) a more detailed version of the report. Both volumes contain sections on previous studies on self-cooled liquid metal breeder blankets, the reference blanket design for a DEMO-reactor, a typical test blanket design including the ancillary loop system and the building requirements for NET/ITER together with the present status of the associated RandD-programme in the fields of neutronics, magnetohydrodynamics, tritium removal and recovery, liquid metal compatibility and purification, ancillary loop system, safety and reliability. An outlook is given regarding the required RandD-programme for the self-cooled liquid metal breeder blanket prior to tests in NET/ITER and the relevant test programme to be performed in NET/ITER. (orig.) [de

Improved structure and long-life blanket concepts for heliotron reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagara, A.; Imagawa, S.; Mitarai, O.

2005-01-01

New design approaches are proposed for the LHD-type heliotron D-T demo-reactor FFHR2 to solve the key engineering issues of blanket space limitation and replacement difficulty. A major radius of over 14m is selected to permit a blanket-shield thickness of about 1m and to reduce the neutron wall loading and toroidal field, while achieving an acceptable cost of electricity. Two sets of optimization are successfully carried out. One is to reduce the magnetic hoop force on the helical coil support structures by adjustment of the helical winding coil pitch parameter and the poloidal coils design, which facilitates expansion of the maintenance ports. The other is a long-life blanket concept using carbon armour tiles that soften the neutron energy spectrum incident on the self-cooled flibe-reduced activation ferritic steel blanket. In this adaptation of the spectral-shifter and tritium breeder blanket (STB) concept a local tritium breeding ratio over 1.2 is feasible by optimized arrangement of the neutron multiplier Be in the carbon tiles, and the radiation shielding of the superconducting magnet coils is also significantly improved. Using constant cross sections of a helically winding shape, the 'screw coaster' concept is proposed to replace in-vessel components such as the STB armour tiles. The key R and D issues for developing the STB concept, such as radiation effects on carbon and enhanced heat transfer of Flibe, are elucidated. (author)

Improved structure and long-life blanket concepts for heliotron reactors

Science.gov (United States)

Sagara, A.; Imagawa, S.; Mitarai, O.; Dolan, T.; Tanaka, T.; Kubota, Y.; Yamazaki, K.; Watanabe, K. Y.; Mizuguchi, N.; Muroga, T.; Noda, N.; Kaneko, O.; Yamada, H.; Ohyabu, N.; Uda, T.; Komori, A.; Sudo, S.; Motojima, O.

2005-04-01

New design approaches are proposed for the LHD-type heliotron D-T demo-reactor FFHR2 to solve the key engineering issues of blanket space limitation and replacement difficulty. A major radius of over 14 m is selected to permit a blanket-shield thickness of about 1 m and to reduce the neutron wall loading and toroidal field, while achieving an acceptable cost of electricity. Two sets of optimization are successfully carried out. One is to reduce the magnetic hoop force on the helical coil support structures by adjustment of the helical winding coil pitch parameter and the poloidal coils design, which facilitates expansion of the maintenance ports. The other is a long-life blanket concept using carbon armour tiles that soften the neutron energy spectrum incident on the self-cooled flibe-reduced activation ferritic steel blanket. In this adaptation of the spectral-shifter and tritium breeder blanket (STB) concept a local tritium breeding ratio over 1.2 is feasible by optimized arrangement of the neutron multiplier Be in the carbon tiles, and the radiation shielding of the superconducting magnet coils is also significantly improved. Using constant cross sections of a helically winding shape, the 'screw coaster' concept is proposed to replace in-vessel components such as the STB armour tiles. The key R&D issues for developing the STB concept, such as radiation effects on carbon and enhanced heat transfer of Flibe, are elucidated.

Updated neutronics analyses of a water cooled ceramic breeder blanket for the CFETR

Science.gov (United States)

Xiaokang, ZHANG; Songlin, LIU; Xia, LI; Qingjun, ZHU; Jia, LI

2017-11-01

The water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket employing pressurized water as a coolant is one of the breeding blanket candidates for the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). Some updating of neutronics analyses was needed, because there were changes in the neutronics performance of the blanket as several significant modifications and improvements have been adopted for the WCCB blanket, including the optimization of radial build-up and customized structure for each blanket module. A 22.5 degree toroidal symmetrical torus sector 3D neutronics model containing the updated design of the WCCB blanket modules was developed for the neutronics analyses. The tritium breeding capability, nuclear heating power, radiation damage, and decay heat were calculated by the MCNP and FISPACT code. The results show that the packing factor and 6Li enrichment of the breeder should both be no less than 0.8 to ensure tritium self-sufficiency. The nuclear heating power of the blanket under 200 MW fusion power reaches 201.23 MW. The displacement per atom per full power year (FPY) of the plasma-facing component and first wall reach 0.90 and 2.60, respectively. The peak H production rate reaches 150.79 appm/FPY and the peak He production reaches 29.09 appm/FPY in blanket module #3. The total decay heat of the blanket modules is 2.64 MW at 1 s after shutdown and the average decay heat density can reach 11.09 kW m-3 at that time. The decay heat density of the blanket modules slowly decreases to lower than 10 W m-3 in more than ten years.

Progress of R&D on water cooled ceramic breeder for ITER test blanket system and DEMO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawamura, Yoshinori, E-mail: kawamura.yoshinori@jaea.go.jp [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Tanigawa, Hisashi; Hirose, Takanori; Enoeda, Mikio [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Sato, Satoshi [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirane Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Ochiai, Kentaro [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-166 Omotedate Obuchi, Rokkasho, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan); Konno, Chikara; Edao, Yuki; Hayashi, Takumi [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4 Shirane Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195 (Japan); Hoshino, Tsuyoshi; Nakamichi, Masaru; Tanigawa, Hiroyasu [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-166 Omotedate Obuchi, Rokkasho, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan); Nishi, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Satoshi; Ezato, Koichiro; Seki, Yohji [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 801-1 Mukoyama, Naka, Ibaraki 311-0193 (Japan); Yamanishi, Toshihiko [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-166 Omotedate Obuchi, Rokkasho, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Thermo-hydraulic calculation in the TBM at the water ingress event has been done. • Shielding calculations for the ITER equatorial port #18 were conducted by using C-lite model. • Prototypic pebbles of Be{sub 17}Ti{sub 2} and Be{sub 12}V had a good oxidation property similar to Be{sub 12}Ti pebble. • Li rich Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles were successfully fabricated using the emulsion method by controlling sintering atmosphere. • New tritium production/recovery experiments at FNS have been started by using ionization chamber as on-line gas monitor. - Abstract: The development of a water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) test blanket module (TBM) is being performed as one of the most important steps toward DEMO blanket in Japan. For the TBM testing and development of DEMO blanket, R&D has been performed on the module fabrication technology, breeder and multiplier pebble fabrication technology, tritium production rate evaluation, as well as structural and safety design activities. The fabrication of full-scale first wall, side walls, breeder pebble bed box and back wall was completed, and assembly of TBM with box structure was successfully achieved. Development of advanced breeder and multiplier pebbles for higher chemical stability was continued for future DEMO blanket application. From the view point of TBM test result evaluation and DEMO blanket performance design, the development of the blanket tritium transport simulation technology, investigation of the TBM neutron measurement technology and the evaluation of the tritium production and recovery test using D-T neutron in the fusion neutron source (FNS) facility has been performed. This paper provides an overview of the recent achievements of the development of the WCCB Blanket in Japan.

Heat transfer problems in gas-cooled solid blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fillo, J.A.; Powell, J.R.

1976-01-01

In all fusion reactors using the deuterium-tritium fuel cycle, a large fraction approximately 80 percent of the fusion energy will be released as approximately 14 MeV neutrons which must be slowed down in a relatively thick blanket surrounding the plasma, thereby, converting their kinetic energy to high temperature heat which can be continuously removed by a coolant stream and converted in part to electricity in a conventional power turbine. Because of the primary goal of achieving minimum radioactivity, to date Brookhaven blanket concepts have been restricted to the use of some form of solid lithium, with inert gas-cooling and in some design cases, water-cooling of the shell structure. Aluminum and graphite have been identified as very promising structural materials for fusion blankets, and conceptual designs based on these materials have been made. Depending on the thermal loading on the ''first'' wall which surrounds the plasma as well as blanket design, heat transfer problems may be noticeably different in gas-cooled solid blankets. Approaches to solution of heat removal problems as well as explanation of: (a) the after-heat problems in blankets; (b) tritium breeding in solids; and (c) materials selection for radiation shields relative to the minimum activity blanket efforts at Brookhaven are discussed

Updated reference design of a liquid metal cooled tandem mirror fusion breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berwald, D.H.; Whitley, R.H.; Garner, J.K.

1985-09-01

Detailed studies of key techinical issues for liquid metal cooled fusion breeder (fusion-fission hybrid blankets) have been performed during the period 1983-4. Based upon the results of these studies, the 1982 reference liquid metal cooled tandem mirror fusion breeder blanket design was updated and is described. The updated reference blankets provides increased breeding and lower technological risk in comparison with the original reference blanket. In addition to the blanket design revisions, a plant concept, cost, and fuel cycle economics assessment is provided. The fusion breeder continues to promise an economical source of fissile fuel for the indefinite future

Updated reference design of a liquid metal cooled tandem mirror fusion breeder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berwald, D.H.; Whitley, R.H.; Garner, J.K.; Gromada, R.J.; McCarville, T.J.; Moir, R.W.; Lee, J.D.; Bandini, B.R.; Fulton, F.J.; Wong, C.P.C.; Maya, I.; Hoot, C.G.; Schultz, K.R.; Miller, L.G.; Beeston, J.M.; Harris, B.L.; Westman, R.A.; Ghoniem, N.M.; Orient, G.; Wolfer, M.; DeVan, J.H.; Torterelli, P.

1985-09-01

Detailed studies of key techinical issues for liquid metal cooled fusion breeder (fusion-fission hybrid blankets) have been performed during the period 1983-4. Based upon the results of these studies, the 1982 reference liquid metal cooled tandem mirror fusion breeder blanket design was updated and is described. The updated reference blankets provides increased breeding and lower technological risk in comparison with the original reference blanket. In addition to the blanket design revisions, a plant concept, cost, and fuel cycle economics assessment is provided. The fusion breeder continues to promise an economical source of fissile fuel for the indefinite future.

A study of sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor with thorium blanket for supply of U-233 to high temperature gas cooled reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, H.; Nishimura, H.; Osugi, T.

1978-08-01

Symbiotic energy system between fast breeder reactor and thermal reactor would have a potential merit for nuclear proliferation problem. And when using HTGR as the thermal reactor in the system, the energy system appears to be promising as an energy system self-sufficient in fuels, which can generate both electricity and high temperature process heat. In the system the fast breeder reactor has to supply sufficient amount of fissile plutonium to keep the reactor going, and also produce U-233 necessary to the associated U-233 fuelled process heat production HTGR. Three types of LMFBR concepts with thorium blanket, conventional homogeneous core LMFBR, and axial and radial parfait heterogeneous core LMFBRs, have been investigated to find out suitable configurations of LMFBR for supply of U-233 to the HTGR with relatively high conversion ratio of 0.85, in the symbiotic energy system between LMFBR and HTGR. The investigation on LMFBR has been made on fuel sufficiency of the system, inherent safety such as sodium-void and Doppler coefficients, and fuel cycle cost. The followings were revealed; (1) Conventional homogeneous core LMFBR with thorium radial blanket well satisfies the condition of fuel sufficiency, if adequate radial blanket thickness is chosen. However, the sodium-void coefficient and fuel cycle cost are inferior to the other concepts. (2) Axial parfait heterogeneous core LMFBR can be regarded as one of the best LMFBR concepts installed in the symbiotic energy system, from the viewpoints of fuel sufficiency, inherent safety and fuel cycle cost. However, further investigations should be needed on reliability and operationability of the concept. (3) Radial parfait heterogeneous core LMFBR seems inadequate as the LMFBR in the system, because the configurations based on this concept does not satisfy plutonium and U-233 breedings, simultaneously. This LMFBR concept, however, has excellent breeding performance in the internal radial blanket. So further

Lay-out of the He-cooled solid breeder model B in the European power plant conceptual study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermsmeyer, S.; Malang, S.; Fischer, U.; Gordeev, S.

2003-01-01

the PPCS, that the He cooled solid breeder blanket is a credible concept. They stress the positive role that He cooling can play in economically attractive fusion power plants

Fusion reactor blanket-main design aspects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strebkov, Yu.; Sidorov, A.; Danilov, I.

1994-01-01

The main function of the fusion reactor blanket is ensuring tritium breeding and radiation shield. The blanket version depends on the reactor type (experimental, DEMO, commercial) and its parameters. Blanket operation conditions are defined with the heat flux, neutron load/fluence, cyclic operation, dynamic heating/force loading, MHD effects etc. DEMO/commercial blanket design is distinguished e.g. by rather high heat load and neutron fluence - up to 100 W/cm 2 and 7 MWa/m 2 accordingly. This conditions impose specific requirements for the materials, structure, maintenance of the blanket and its most loaded components - FW and limiter. The liquid Li-Pb eutectic is one of the possible breeder for different kinds of blanket in view of its advantages one of which is the blanket convertibility that allow to have shielding blanket (borated water) or breeding one (Li-Pb eutectic). Using Li-Pb eutectic for both ITER and DEMO blankets have been considered. In the conceptual ITER design the solid eutectic blanket was carried out. The liquid eutectic breeder/coolant is suggested also for the advanced (high parameter) blanket

Blanket comparison and selection study. Final report. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-09-01

The study focused on: (1) Development of reference design guidelines, evaluation criteria, and a methodology for evaluating and ranking candidate blanket concepts. (2) Compilation of the required data base and development of a uniform systems analysis for comparison. (3) Development of conceptual designs for the comparative evaluation. (4) Evaluation of leading concepts for engineering feasibility, economic performance, and safety. (5) Identification and prioritization of R and D requirements for the leading blanket concepts. Sixteen concepts (nine TMR and seven tokamak) which were identified as leading candidates in the early phases of the study, were evaluated in detail. The overall evaluation concluded that the following concepts should provide the focus for the blanket R and D program: (Breeder/Coolant/Structure), Lithium/Lithium/Vanadium Alloy, Li 2 O/Helium/Ferritic Steel, LiPb Alloy/LiPb Alloy/Vanadium Alloy, and Lithium/Helium/Ferritic Steel. The primary R and D issues for the Li/Li/V concept are the development of an advanced structural alloy, resolution of MHD and corrosion problems, provision for an inert atmosphere (e.g., N 2 ) in the reactor building, and the development of non-water cooled near-plasma components, particularly for the tokamak. The main issues for the LiPb/LiPb/V concept are similar to the Li/Li/V blanket with the addition of resolving the tritium recovery issue. The R and D issues for Li 2 O/He/FS concept include resolution of the tritium recovery/containment issue, achieving adequate tritium breeding and resolving other solid breeder issues such as swelling and fabrication concerns. Major concerns for the Li/He/FS concept are related to its rather poor economic performance. Improvement of its economic performance will be somewhat concept-dependent and will be more of a systems engineering issue

Blanket comparison and selection study. Final report. Volume 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1984-09-01

The study focused on: (1) Development of reference design guidelines, evaluation criteria, and a methodology for evaluating and ranking candidate blanket concepts. (2) Compilation of the required data base and development of a uniform systems analysis for comparison. (3) Development of conceptual designs for the comparative evaluation. (4) Evaluation of leading concepts for engineering feasibility, economic performance, and safety. (5) Identification and prioritization of R and D requirements for the leading blanket concepts. Sixteen concepts (nine TMR and seven tokamak) which were identified as leading candidates in the early phases of the study, were evaluated in detail. The overall evaluation concluded that the following concepts should provide the focus for the blanket R and D program: (Breeder/Coolant/Structure), Lithium/Lithium/Vanadium Alloy, Li/sub 2/O/Helium/Ferritic Steel, LiPb Alloy/LiPb Alloy/Vanadium Alloy, and Lithium/Helium/Ferritic Steel. The primary R and D issues for the Li/Li/V concept are the development of an advanced structural alloy, resolution of MHD and corrosion problems, provision for an inert atmosphere (e.g., N/sub 2/) in the reactor building, and the development of non-water cooled near-plasma components, particularly for the tokamak. The main issues for the LiPb/LiPb/V concepts are similar to the Li/Li/V blanket with the addition of resolving the tritium recovery issue. The R and D issues for Li/sub 2/O/He/FS concept include resolution of the tritium recovery/containment issue, achieving adequate tritium breeding and resolving other solid breeder issues such as swelling and fabrication concerns. Major concerns for the Li/He/FS concept are related to its rather poor economic performance. Improvement of its economic performance will be somewhat concept-dependent and will be more of a systems engineering issue.

Blanket comparison and selection study. Final report. Volume 3

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-09-01

The study focused on: (1) Development of reference design guidelines, evaluation criteria, and a methodology for evaluating and ranking candidate blanket concepts. (2) Compilation of the required data base and development of a uniform systems analysis for comparison. (3) Development of conceptual designs for the comparative evaluation. (4) Evaluation of leading concepts for engineering feasibility, economic performance, and safety. (5) Identification and prioritization of R and D requirements for the leading blanket concepts. Sixteen concepts (nine TMR and seven tokamak) which were identified as leading candidates in the early phases of the study, were evaluated in detail. The overall evaluation concluded that the following concepts should provide the focus for the blanket R and D program: (Breeder/Coolant/Structure), Lithium/Lithium/Vanadium Alloy, Li 2 O/Helium/Ferritic Steel, LiPb Alloy/LiPb Alloy/Vanadium Alloy, and Lithium/Helium/Ferritic Steel. The primary R and D issues for the Li/Li/V concept are the development of an advanced structural alloy, resolution of MHD and corrosion problems, provision for an inert atmosphere (e.g., N 2 ) in the reactor building, and the development of non-water cooled near-plasma components, particularly for the tokamak. The main issues for the LiPb/LiPb/V concept are similar to the Li/Li/V blanket with the addition of resolving the tritium recovery issue. The R and D issues for Li 2 O/He/FS concept include resolution of the tritium recovery/containment issue, achieving adequate tritium breeding and resolving other solid breeder issues such as swelling and fabrication concerns. Major concerns for the Li/He/FS concepts are related to its rather poor economic performance. Improvement of its economic performance will be somewhat concept-dependent and will be more of a systems engineering issue

Blanket comparison and selection study. Final report. Volume 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1984-09-01

The study focused on: (1) Development of reference design guidelines, evaluation criteria, and a methodology for evaluating and ranking candidate blanket concepts. (2) Compilation of the required data base and development of a uniform systems analysis for comparison. (3) Development of conceptual designs for the comparative evaluation. (4) Evaluation of leading concepts for engineering feasibility, economic performance, and safety. (5) Identification and prioritization of R and D requirements for the leading blanket concepts. Sixteen concepts (nine TMR and seven tokamak) which were identified as leading candidates in the early phases of the study, were evaluated in detail. The overall evaluation concluded that the following concepts should provide the focus for the blanket R and D program: (Breeder/Coolant/Structure), Lithium/Lithium/Vanadium Alloy, Li 2 O/Helium/Ferritic Steel, LiPb Alloy/LiPb Alloy/Vanadium Alloy, and Lithium/Helium/Ferritic Steel. The primary R and D issues for the Li/Li/V concept are the development of an advanced structural alloy, resolution of MHD and corrosion problems, provision for an inert atmosphere (e.g., N 2 ) in the reactor building, and the development of non-water cooled near-plasma components, particularly for the tokamak. The main issues for the LiPb/LiPb/V concepts are similar to the Li/Li/V blanket with the addition of resolving the tritium recovery issue. The R and D issues for Li 2 O/He/FS concept include resolution of the tritium recovery/containment issue, achieving adequate tritium breeding and resolving other solid breeder issues such as swelling and fabrication concerns. Major concerns for the Li/He/FS concept are related to its rather poor economic performance. Improvement of its economic performance will be somewhat concept-dependent and will be more of a systems engineering issue

Conceptual design of two helium cooled fusion blankets (ceramic and liquid breeder) for INTOR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalle Donne, M.; Dorner, S.; Taczanowski, S.

1983-08-01

Neutronic and heat transfer calculations have been performed for two helium cooled blankets for the INTOR design. The neutronic calculations show that the local tritium breeding ratios, both for the ceramic blanket (Li 2 SiO 3 ) and for the liquid blanket (Li 17 Pb 83 ) solutions, are 1.34 for natural tritium and about 1.45 using 30% Li 6 enrichment. The heat transfer calculations show that it is possible to cool the divertor section of the torus (heat flux = 1.7 MW/m 2 ) with helium with an inlet pressure of 52 bar and an inlet temperature of 40 0 C. The temperature of the back face of the divertor can be kept at 130 0 C. With helium with the same inlet conditions it is possible to cool the first wall as well (heat flux = 0.136 MW/m 2 ) and keep the back-face of this wall at a temperature of 120 0 C. For the ceramic blanket we use helium with 52 bar inlet pressure and 400 0 C inlet temperature to ensure sufficiently high temperatures in the breeder material. The maximum temperature in the pressure tubes containing the blanket is 450 0 C, while the maximum breeder particle temperature is 476 0 C. (orig./RW) [de

Investigation of tritium inventory and permeation behaviour in the liquid breeder blanket concept of Demo as a function of design and material parameters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tominetti, S.; Perujo, A.; Reiter, F.

1991-01-01

A numerical code has been used to estimate the time dependence of tritium inventory and of tritium transport into the coolant, into the first wall boxes and through the liquid breeder in the Pb-17Li blanket concept of DEMO. Several issues in both design and material parameters have been considered and the effect on inventory and permeation of coatings with low surface recombination coefficient and/or low diffusivity at various surfaces of the structural material has been studied. TiC has been chosen as reference material for these calculations and a general database on coating efficiency as a function of its properties has also been produced on the basis of TiC data

Thermodynamic considerations for the use of vanadium alloys with ceramic breeder materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, C.E.; Johnson, I.; Kopasz, J.P.

1995-01-01

Fusion energy is considered to be an attractive energy form because of its minimal environmental impact. In order to maintain this favorable status, every effort needs to be made to use low activation materials wherever possible. The tritium breeder blanket is a focal point of system design engineers who must design environmentally attractive blankets through the use of low activation materials. Of the several candidate lithium-containing ceramics being considered for use in the breeder blanket, Li 2 O, Li 2 TiO 3 , are attractive choices because of their low activation. Also, low activation materials like the vanadium alloys are being considered for use as structural materials in the blanket. The suitability of vanadium alloys for containment of lithium ceramics is the subject of this study. Thermodynamic evaluations are being used to estimate the compatibility and stability of candidate ceramic breeder materials (Li 2 O, Li 2 TiO 3 , and Li 2 ZrO 3 ) with vanadium and vanadium alloys. This thermodynamic evaluation will focus first on solid-solid interactions. As a tritium breeding blanket will use a purge gas for tritium recovery, gas-solid systems will also receive attention

Comparison of In-Vessel Shielding Design Concepts between Sodium-cooled Fast Burner Reactor and the Sodium-cooled Fast Breeder Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Sunghwan; Kim, Sang Ji

2015-01-01

In this study, quantities of in-vessel shields were derived and compared each other based on the replaceable shield assembly concept for both of the breeder and burner SFRs. Korean Prototype Gen-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (PGSFR) like SFR was used as the reference reactor and calculation method reported in the reference was used for shielding analysis. In this paper, characteristics of in-vessel shielding design were studied for the burner SFR and breeder SFR based on the replaceable shield assembly concept. An in-vessel shield to prevent secondary sodium activation (SSA) in the intermediate heat exchangers (IHXs) is one of the most important structures for the pool type Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). In our previous work, two in-vessel shielding design concepts were compared each other for the burner SFR. However, a number of SFRs have been designed and operated with the breeder concept, in which axial and radial blankets were loaded for fuel breeding, during the past several decades. Since axial and radial blanket plays a role of neutron shield, comparison of required in-vessel shield amount between the breeder and burner SFRs may be an interesting work for SFR designer. Due to the blanket, the breeder SFR showed better performance in axial neutron shielding. Hence, 10.1 m diameter reactor vessel satisfied the design limit of SSA at the IHXs. In case of the burner SFR, due to more significant axial fast neutron leakage, 10.6 m diameter reactor vessel was required to satisfy the design limit of SSA at the IHXs. Although more efficient axial shied such as a mixture of ZrH 2 and B 4 C can improve shielding performance of the burner SFR, additional fabrication difficulty may mitigate the advantage of improved shielding performance. Therefore, it can be concluded that the breeder SFR has better characteristic in invessel shielding design to prevent SSA at the IHXs than the burner SFR in the pool-type reactor

Ferritic steels for the first generation of breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diegele, E.

2009-01-01

Materials development in nuclear fusion for in-vessel components, i.e. for breeder blankets and divertors, has a history of more than two decades. It is the specific in-service and loading conditions and the consequentially required properties in combination with safety standards and social-economic demands that create a unique set of specifications. Objectives of Fusion for Energy (F4E) include: 1) To provide Europe's contribution to the ITER international fusion energy project; 2) To implement the Broader Approach agreement between Euratom and Japan; 3) To prepare for the construction and demonstration of fusion reactors (DEMO). Consequently, activities in F4E focus on structural materials for the first generations of breeder blankets, i.e. ITER Test Blanket Modules (TBM) and DEMO, whereas a Fusion Materials Topical Group implemented under EFDA coordinates R and D on physically based modelling of irradiation effects and R and D in the longer term (new and /or higher risk materials). The paper focuses on martensitic-ferritic steels and (i) reviews briefly the challenges and the rationales for the decisions taken in the past, (ii) analyses the status of the main activities of development and qualification, (iii) indicates unresolved issues, and (iv) outlines future strategies and needs and their implications. Due to the exposure to intense high energy neutron flux, the main issue for breeder materials is high radiation resistance. The First Wall of a breeder blanket should survive 3-5 full power years or, respectively in terms of irradiation damage, typically 50-70 dpa for DEMO and double figures for a power plant. Even though the objective is to have the materials and key fabrication technologies needed for DEMO fully developed and qualified within the next two decades, a major part of the task has to be completed much earlier. Tritium breeding test blanket modules will be installed in ITER with the objective to test DEMO relevant technologies in fusion

Fusion blanket testing in MFTF-α + T

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kleefeldt, K.

1985-01-01

The Mirror Fusion Test Facility-α + T (MFTF-α + T) is an upgraded version of the current MFTF-B test facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and is designed for near-term fusion-technology-integrated tests at a neutron flux of 2 MW/m 2 . Currently, the fusion community is screening blanket and related issues to determine which ones can be addressed using MFTF-α + T. In this work, the minimum testing needs to address these issues are identified for the liquid-metal-cooled blanket and the solid-breeder blanket. Based on the testing needs and on the MFTF-α + T capability, a test plan is proposed for three options; each option covers a six to seven year testing phase. The options reflect the unresolved question of whether to place the research and development (R and D) emphasis on liquid-metal or solid-breeder blankets. In each case, most of the issues discussed can be addressed to a reasonable extent in MFTF-α+T

Materials data base and design equations for the UCLA solid breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharafat, S.; Amodeo, R.; Ghoniem, N.M.

1986-01-01

The need for a complete and coherent material data base for fusion reactor systems has been an important issue for some time now. Since the choices for materials used in fusion reactors are becoming more apparent, it is important to be able to quickly access this data to facilitate reactor design. The philosophy of a data base is one of expansion and modification. This will lead to a constantly growing collection of most recently acquired information. Based on this philosophy special care has been given to the structure, the accessibility and ease of modification. The data base is developed primarily for use on Personal Computers (PC's). In Section 10.2. materials and properties investigated for this blanket study are listed. Section 10.3. is a list of phenomenological equations and mathematical fits for all materials and properties considered. Section 10.4. describes the authors efforts to develop a swelling equations based on the few experimental data points available for breeder materials. In Section 10.5. the sintering phenomena for ceramics is investigated

Analysis of a sustainable gas cooled fast breeder reactor concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Akansha; Chirayath, Sunil S.; Tsvetkov, Pavel V.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A Thorium-GFBR breeder for actinide recycling ability, and thorium fuel feasibility. • A mixture of 232 Th and 233 U is used as fuel and LWR used fuel is used. • Detailed neutronics, fuel cycle, and thermal-hydraulics analysis has been presented. • Run this TGFBR for 20 years with breeding of 239 Pu and 233 U. • Neutronics analysis using MCNP and Brayton cycle for energy conversion are used. - Abstract: Analysis of a thorium fuelled gas cooled fast breeder reactor (TGFBR) concept has been done to demonstrate the self-sustainability, breeding capability, actinide recycling ability, and thorium fuel feasibility. Simultaneous use of 232 Th and used fuel from light water reactor in the core has been considered. Results obtained confirm the core neutron spectrum dominates in an intermediate energy range (peak at 100 keV) similar to that seen in a fast breeder reactor. The conceptual design achieves a breeding ratio of 1.034 and an average fuel burnup of 74.5 (GWd)/(MTHM) . TGFBR concept is to address the eventual shortage of 235 U and nuclear waste management issues. A mixture of thorium and uranium ( 232 Th + 233 U) is used as fuel and light water reactor used fuel is utilized as blanket, for the breeding of 239 Pu. Initial feed of 233 U has to be obtained from thorium based reactors; even though there are no thorium breeders to breed 233 U a theoretical evaluation has been used to derive the data for the source of 233 U. Reactor calculations have been performed with Monte Carlo radiation transport code, MCNP/MCNPX. It is determined that this reactor has to be fuelled once every 5 years assuming the design thermal power output as 445 MW. Detailed analysis of control rod worth has been performed and different reactivity coefficients have been evaluated as part of the safety analysis. The TGFBR concept demonstrates the sustainability of thorium, viability of 233 U as an alternate to 235 U and an alternate use for light water reactor used fuel as a

Study on tritium recovery from breeder materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moriyama, H.; Moritani, K.

1997-01-01

For the development of fusion reactor blanket systems, some of the key issues on the tritium recovery performance of solid and liquid breeder materials were studied. In the case of solid breeder materials, a special attention was focussed on the effects of irradiation on the tritium recovery performance, and tritium release experiments, luminescence measurements of irradiation defects and modeling studies were systematically performed. For liquid breeder materials, tritium recovery experiments from molten salt and liquid lithium were performed, and the technical feasibility of tritium recovery methods was discussed. (author)

First wall and blanket module safety enhancement by material selection and design decision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Merrill, B.J.

1980-01-01

A thermal/mechanical study has been performed which illustrates the behavior of a fusion reactor first wall and blanket module during a loss of coolant flow event. The relative safety advantages of various material and design options were determined. A generalized first wall-blanket concept was developed to provide the flexibility to vary the structural material (stainless steel vs titanium), coolant (helium vs water), and breeder material (liquid lithium vs solid lithium aluminate). In addition, independent vs common first wall-blanket cooling and coupled adjacent module cooling design options were included in the study. The comparative analyses were performed using a modified thermal analysis code to handle phase change problems

Heat deposition, damage, and tritium breeding characteristics in thick liquid wall blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youssef, M.Z.; Abdou, M.A.

2000-01-01

The advanced power extraction (APEX) study aims at exploring new and innovative blanket concepts that can efficiently extract power from fusion devices with high neutron wall load. Among the concepts under investigation is the free liquid FW/liquid blanket concept in which a fast flowing liquid FW (∼2-3 cm) is followed by thick flowing blanket (B) of ∼40-50 cm thickness with minimal amount of structure. The liquid FW/B are contained inside the vacuum vessel (VV) with a shielding zone (S) located either behind the VV and outside the vacuum boundary (case A) or placed after the FW/B and inside the VV (case B). In this paper we investigate the nuclear characteristics of this concept in terms of: (1) attenuation capability of the liquid FW/B/S and protection of the VV and magnet against radiation damage; (2) profiles of tritium production rate and tritium breeding ratio (TBR) for several liquid candidates; and (3) profiles of heat deposition rate and power multiplication. The candidate liquid breeders considered are Li, Flibe, Li-Sn, and Li-Pb. Parameters varied are (1) FW/B thickness, L, (2) Li-6 enrichment and (3) thickness of the shield

Breeding blanket development. Tritium release from breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Kawamura, Hiroshi; Nagao, Yoshiharu

2006-01-01

Engineering data on neutron irradiation performance of tritium breeders are needed to design the breeding blanket of fusion reactor. In this study, tritium release experiments of the breeders were carried out to examine the effects of various parameters (such as sweep gas flow rate, hydrogen content in sweep gas, irradiation temperature and thermal neutron flux) on tritium generation and release behavior. Lithium titanate (Li 2 TiO 3 ) is considered as a candidate tritium breeder in the blanket design of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). As for the shape of the breeder material, a small spherical form is preferred to reduce the thermal stress induced in the breeder. Li 2 TiO 3 pebbles of about 170g in total weight and with 0.3 and 2 mm in diameter were manufactured by a wet process, and an assembly packed with the binary Li 2 TiO 3 pebbles was irradiated in Japan Materials Testing Reactor (JMTR). The tritium was generated in the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed and released from the pebble bed, and was swept downstream using the sweep gas for on-line analysis of tritium content. Concentration of total tritium and gaseous tritium (HT or T 2 gas) released from the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed were measured by ionization chambers, and the ratio of (gaseous tritium)/(total tritium) was evaluated. The sweep gas flow rate was changed from 100 to 900cm 3 /min, and hydrogen content in the sweep gas was changed from 100 to 10000 ppm. Furthermore, thermal neutron flux was changed using a window made of hafnium (Hf) neutron absorber. The irradiation temperature at an outer region of the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed was held between 200 and 400degC. The main results of this experiment are summarized as follows. 1) When the temperature at the outside edge of the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed exceeded 100degC, the tritium release from the Li 2 TiO 3 pebble bed started. The ratio of the tritium release rate and the tritium generation rate (normalized tritium release rate: R/G) reached

Neutronic performance of two European breeder-inside-tube (BIT) blankets for DEMO: the helium-cooled ceramic LiAlO2 with Be multiplier and the water-cooled liquid Li17Pb

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrizzi, L.; Rado, V.

1995-01-01

In support of ENEA activity in the European Community Test Programme, neutron analysis has been performed on the two latest blanket designs: helium-cooled ceramic breeder-inside-tube (BIT) (with LiAlO 2 and Be multiplier) and water-cooled liquid Li 17 Pb in cylindrical modules (CM). The powerful MCNP Monte Carlo code was used (version 4.2). A detailed and accurate description of the geometrical model has been performed by inserting the main reactor details and avoiding breeder material dilution inside the modules. The tritium breeding ratio (TBR) performance is low for the solid breeder BIT blanket (with 10 ports 1.011) due mainly to low blanket coverage near the exhaust duct, and this solution should be revised. The CM Li 17 Pb blanket reaches a sufficient TBR (1.059, with ports) to rely on tritium self-sufficiency. Shielding properties, with respect to the toroidal field coils, have been estimated in a simplified model by means of the ANISN code, supplied with a nuclear data library consistent with that used by MCNP. The analysis suggests that a careful shield thickness/composition design should be used to ensure the shielding capability of the whole blanket plus shield system. (orig.)

Thermodynamic considerations for the use of vanadium alloys with ceramic breeder materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, C.E.; Johnson, I.; Kopasz, J.P.

1995-12-31

Fusion energy is considered to be an attractive energy form because of its minimal environmental impact. In order to maintain this favorable status, every effort needs to be made to use low activation materials wherever possible. The tritium breeder blanket is a focal point of system design engineers who must design environmentally attractive blankets through the use of low activation materials. Of the several candidate lithium-containing ceramics being considered for use in the breeder blanket, Li{sub 2}O, Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3}, are attractive choices because of their low activation. Also, low activation materials like the vanadium alloys are being considered for use as structural materials in the blanket. The suitability of vanadium alloys for containment of lithium ceramics is the subject of this study. Thermodynamic evaluations are being used to estimate the compatibility and stability of candidate ceramic breeder materials (Li{sub 2}O, Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3}, and Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}) with vanadium and vanadium alloys. This thermodynamic evaluation will focus first on solid-solid interactions. As a tritium breeding blanket will use a purge gas for tritium recovery, gas-solid systems will also receive attention.

Tritium transport in the water cooled Pb-17Li blanket concept of DEMO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reiter, F.; Tominetti, S.; Perujo, A.

1992-01-01

The code TIRP has been used to calculate the time dependence of tritium inventory and tritium permeation into the coolant and into the first wall boxes in the water cooled Pb-17Li blanket concept of DEMO. The calculations have been performed for the martensitic steel MANET and the austenitic steel AISI 316L as blanket structure materials, for water or helium cooling and for convective or no motion of the liquid breeder in the blanket. Tritium inventories are rather low in blankets with MANET structure and higher in those with AISI 316L structure. Tritium permeation rates are too high in both blankets. Further calculations on tritium inventory and permeation are therefore presented for blankets with TiC permeation barriers of 1 μm thickness on various surfaces of the blanket structure and for blankets with any permeation barriers in function of their thickness, tritium diffusivities, tritium surface recombination rates and atomic densities. These last calculations have been performed for a blanket with coatings on the outer surfaces of the blanket and with a tritium residence time of 10 4 s and for a blanket with coatings on both sides of the cooling tubes and stagnant Pb-17Li in the blanket. The second case for a blanket with MANET structure presents a very interesting solution for tritium recovery by permeation into and pumping from the first wall boxes. (orig.)

Experimental programme in support of the development of the European ceramic-breeder-inside-tube test-blanket: present status and future work

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proust, E.; Roux, N.; Flament, T.; Anzidei, L.; ENEA, Frascati; Casadio, S.; Dell'orco, G.

1992-01-01

Four DEMO blanket classes are under investigation within the framework of the European Test-Blanket Development Programme. One of them is featured by the use of lithium ceramic breeder pellets contained inside externally helium cooled tubes. This paper summarizes the main achievements to date of the experimental programme supporting the development of this class of blanket. It also gives an outline of the areas of the breeder material, beryllium, tritium control, and thermomechanical tests, the future work envisaged for the 92-94 period. 53 refs

A ceramic breeder in a poloidal tube blanket for a tokamak reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amici, A.; Anzidei, L.; Gallina, M.; Rado, V.; Simbolotti, G.; Violante, V.; Zampaglione, V.; Petrizzi, L.

1989-01-01

A conceptual study of a helium-cooled solid breeder blanket for a tokamak reactor is presented. Tritium breeding capability together with system reliability are taken as the main design criteria. The blanket consists of tubular poloidal modules made of a central bundle of ceramic rods (γLiAlO 2 ) with a coaxial distribution of the inlet/outlet coolant flow (He) surrounded by a multiplier material (Be) in the form of bored bricks. The Be to γLiAlO 2 volume ratio is 4/1. The He inlet and outlet branches are cooling Be and γLiAlO 2 , respectively. A purge He flow running through small central holes of the ceramic rods is derived from the main flow. Under the typical conditions of a tokamak reactor (neutron wall load=2 MW/m 2 ), a full coverage tritium breeding ratio of 1.47 is achieved for the following design and operating parameters: outlet He temperature=570 0 C; inlet He temperature=250 0 ; total extracted power=2700 MW; He pumping power percentage=2%; minimum/maximum γLiAlO 2 temperature=400/900 0 C; maximum structural temperature=475 0 C; and maximum Be temperature=525 0 C. (orig.)

NOEL: a no-leak fusion blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, J.R.; Yu, W.S.; Fillo, J.A.; Horn, F.L.; Makowitz, H.

1980-01-01

Analysis and tests of a no-leak fusion blanket concept (NOEL-NO External Leak) are described. Coolant cannot leak into the plasma chamber even if large through-cracks develop in the first wall. Blanket modules contain a two-phase material, A, that is solid (several cm thick) on the inside of the module shell, and liquid in the interior. The solid layer is maintained by imbedded tubes carrying a coolant, B, below the freezing point of A. Most of the 14-MeV neutron energy is deposited as heat in the module interior. The thermal energy flow from the module interior to the shell keeps the interior liquid. Pressure on the liquid A interior is greater than the pressure on B, so that B cannot leak out if failures occur in coolant tubes. Liquid A cannot leak into the plasma chamber through first wall cracks because of the intervening frozen layer. The thermal hydraulics and neutronics of NOEL blankets have been investigated for various metallic (e.g., Li, Pb 2 , LiPb, Pb) and fused salt choices for material A

Blanket comparison and selection study. Volume I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-10-01

The objectives of the Blanket Comparison and Selection Study (BCSS) can be stated as follows: (1) Define a small number (approx. 3) of blanket design concepts that should be the focus of the blanket R and D program. A design concept is defined by the selection of all materials (e.g., breeder, coolant, structure and multiplier) and other major characteristics that significantly influence the R and D requirements. (2) Identify and prioritize the critical issues for the leading blanket concepts. (3) Provide the technical input necessary to develop a blanket R and D program plan. Guidelines for prioritizing the R and D requirements include: (a) critical feasibility issues for the leading blanket concepts will receive the highest priority, and (b) for equally important feasibility issues, higher R and D priority will be given to those that require minimum cost and short time

Tritium breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.; Billone, M.; Gohar, Y.; Baker, C.; Mori, S.; Kuroda, T.; Maki, K.; Takatsu, H.; Yoshida, H.; Raffray, A.; Sviatoslavsky, I.; Simbolotti, G.; Shatalov, G.

1991-01-01

The terms of reference for ITER provide for incorporation of a tritium breeding blanket with a breeding ratio as close to unity as practical. A breeding blanket is required to assure an adequate supply of tritium to meet the program objectives. Based on specified design criteria, a ceramic breeder concept with water coolant and an austenitic steel structure has been selected as the first option and lithium-lead blanket concept has been chosen as an alternate option. The first wall, blanket, and shield are integrated into a single unit with separate cooling systems. The design makes extensive use of beryllium to enhance the tritium breeding ratio. The design goals with a tritium breeding ratio of 0.8--0.9 have been achieved and the R ampersand D requirements to qualify the design have been identified. 4 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs

Neutronic performance issues of the breeding blanket options for the European DEMO fusion power plant

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fischer, U., E-mail: ulrich.fischer@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Bachmann, C. [EUROfusion—Programme Management Unit, Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching (Germany); Jaboulay, J.-C. [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, SERMA, LPEC, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Moro, F. [ENEA, Dipartimento Fusione e tecnologie per la Sicurezza Nucleare, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, Rome (Italy); Palermo, I. [Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), Madrid (Spain); Pereslavtsev, P. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Villari, R. [ENEA, Dipartimento Fusione e tecnologie per la Sicurezza Nucleare, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, Rome (Italy)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Breeder blanket concepts for DEMO—design features. • Neutronic characteristics of breeder blankets. • Evaluation of Tritium breeding potential. • Evaluation of shielding performance. - Abstract: This paper presents nuclear performance issues of the HCPB, HCLL, DCLL and WCLL breeder blankets, which are under development within the PPPT (Power Plant Physics and Technology) programme of EUROfusion, with the objective to assess the potential and suitability of the blankets for the application to DEMO. The assessment is based on the initial design versions of the blankets developed in 2014. The Tritium breeding potential is considered sufficient for all breeder blankets although the initial design versions of the HCPB, HCLL and DCLL blankets were shown to require further design improvements. Suitable measures have been proposed and proven to be sufficient to achieve the required Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR) ≥ 1.10. The shielding performance was shown to be sufficient to protect the super-conducting toroidal field coil provided that efficient shielding material mixtures including WC or borated water are utilized. The WCLL blanket does not require the use of such shielding materials due to a very compact blanket support structure/manifold configuration which yet requires design verification. The vacuum vessel can be safely operated over the full anticipated DEMO lifetime of 6 full power years for all blanket concepts considered.

Comparison of lithium and the eutectic lead lithium alloy, two candidate liquid metal breeder materials for self-cooled blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Mattas, R.

1994-06-01

Liquid metals are attractive candidates for both near-term and long-term fusion applications. The subjects of this comparison are the differences between the two candidate liquid metal breeder materials Li and LiPb for use in breeding blankets in the areas of neutronics, magnetohydrodynamics, tritium control, compatibility with structural materials, heat extraction system, safety, and required R ampersand D program. Both candidates appear to be promising for use in self-cooled breeding blankets which have inherent simplicity with the liquid metal serving as both breeders and coolant. The remaining feasibility question for both breeder materials is the electrical insulation between liquid metal and duct walls. Different ceramic coatings are required for the two breeders, and their crucial issues, namely self-healing of insulator cracks and radiation induced electrical degradation are not yet demonstrated. Each liquid metal breeder has advantages and concerns associated with it, and further development is needed to resolve these concerns

Progress in blanket designs using SiCf/SiC composites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giancarli, L.; Golfier, H.; Nishio, S.; Raffray, R.; Wong, C.; Yamada, R.

2002-01-01

This paper summarizes the most recent design activities concerning the use of SiC f /SiC composite as structural material for fusion power reactor breeding blanket. Several studies have been performed in the past. The most recent proposals are the TAURO blanket concept in the European Union, the ARIES-AT concept in the US, and DREAM concept in Japan. The first two concepts are self-cooled lithium-lead blankets, while DREAM is an helium-cooled beryllium/ceramic blanket. Both TAURO and ARIES-AT blankets are essentially formed by a SiC f /SiC box acting as a container for the lithium-lead which has the simultaneous functions of coolant, tritium breeder, neutron multiplier and, finally, tritium carrier. The DREAM blanket is characterized by small modules using pebble beds of Be as neutron multiplier material, of Li 2 O (or other lithium ceramics) as breeder material and of SiC as shielding material. The He coolant path includes a flow through the pebble beds and a porous partition wall. For each blanket, this paper describes the main design features and performances, the most recent design improvements, and the proposed manufacturing routes in order to identify specific issues and requirements for the future R and D on SiC f /SiC

Advanced methods comparisons of reaction rates in the Purdue Fast Breeder Blanket Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, R.N.; Ott, K.O.

1988-01-01

A review of worldwide results revealed that reaction rates in the blanket region are generally underpredicted with the discrepancy increasing with penetration; however, these results vary widely. Experiments in the large uniform Purdue Fast Breeder Blanket Facility (FBBF) blanket yield an accurate quantification of this discrepancy. Using standard production code methods (diffusion theory with 50 group cross sections), a consistent Calculated/Experimental (C/E) drop-off was observed for various reaction rates. A 50% increase in the calculated results at the outer edge of the blanket is necessary for agreement with experiments. The usefulness of refined group constant generation utilizing specialized weighting spectra and transport theory methods in correcting this discrepancy was analyzed. Refined group constants reduce the discrepancy to half that observed using the standard method. The surprising result was that transport methods had no effect on the blanket deviations; thus, transport theory considerations do not constitute or even contribute to an explanation of the blanket discrepancies. The residual blanket C/E drop-off (about half the standard drop-off) using advanced methods must be caused by some approximations which are applied in all current methods. 27 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

An alternative high breeding radio design concept with liquid breeder for the NET/INTOR blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Avanzini, P.G.; Cardella, A.; Raia, G.; Rosatelli, F.; Farfaletti-Casali, F.

1984-01-01

A liquid lithium tubolar breeding blanket concept has been studied which could be applied to NET/INTOR or other next generation Tokamak reactors. A high breeding ratio can be achieved using a moderator medium, without enriching lithium in the Li6 percentage. Preliminary neutron and gamma flux and thermohydraulics calculations have shown the feasibility and efficiency of our concept. (author)

Fast Breeder Blanket Facility FBBF. Annual report, January 1, 1981-December 31, 1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clikeman, F.M.

1982-07-01

This annual report contains a summmary of fission rate, spectra, and gamma-ray heating rate measurements made in the first blanket of the Purdue Fast Breeder Blanket Facility. The first blanket consisted of aluminum clad, natural UO 2 fuel rods with a secondary cladding of stainless steel or aluminum. The blanket was arranged in two concentric regions around the neutron source and converter regions. A neutron diffusion code, 2DB, and a Monte Carlo code, VIM, both using homogeneous cross section groups have been used to calculate the reaction rates. Calculated to experimental values for a number of important reactions are presented. A modified method of applying Bondarenko self-shielding factors to correct for the self shielding of resonance energy neutrons in aluminum, stainless steel and UO 2 has improved the agreement between the calculations and experiment, but does not account for all of the differences

Optimization of the breeder zone cooling tubes of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Di Maio, P.A.; Arena, P.; Bongiovì, G. [Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Palermo (Italy); Chiovaro, P., E-mail: pierluigi.chiovaro@unipa.it [Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Palermo (Italy); Del Nevo, A. [ENEA Brasimone, Camugnano, BO (Italy); Forte, R. [Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell’Informazione e Modelli Matematici, Università di Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Palermo (Italy)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Determination of an optimal configuration for the breeder zone cooling tubes. • Attention has been focused on the toroidal–radial breeder zone cooling tubes lay out. • A theoretical-computational approach based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) has been followed, adopting a qualified commercial FEM code. • Five different configurations have been investigated to optimize the breeder zone cooling tubes arrangement fulfilling all the rules prescribed by safety codes. - Abstract: The determination of an optimal configuration for the breeder zone (BZ) cooling tubes is one of the most important issues in the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) breeding blanket R&D activities, since BZ cooling tubes spatial distribution should ensure an efficient heat power removal from the breeder, avoiding hotspots occurrence in the thermal field. Within the framework of R&D activities supported by the HORIZON 2020 EUROfusion Consortium action on the DEMO WCLL breeding blanket design, a campaign of parametric analyses has been launched at the Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models of the University of Palermo (DEIM), in close cooperation with ENEA-Brasimone, in order to assess the potential influence of BZ cooling tubes number on the thermal performances of the DEMO WCLL outboard breeding blanket equatorial module under the nominal steady state operative conditions envisaged for it, optimizing their geometric configuration and taking also into account that a large number of cooling pipes can deteriorate the tritium breeding performances of the module. In particular, attention has been focused on the toroidal-radial option for the BZ tube bundles lay-out and a parametric study has been carried out taking into account different tube bundles arrangement within the module. The study has been carried out following a numerical approach, based on the finite element method (FEM), and adopting a qualified commercial FEM code. Results

Development and qualification of functional materials for the EU Test Blanket Modules: Strategy and R and D activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zmitko, M., E-mail: milan.zmitko@f4e.europa.eu [Fusion for Energy (F4E), 08019 Barcelona (Spain); Poitevin, Y. [Fusion for Energy (F4E), 08019 Barcelona (Spain); Boccaccini, L., E-mail: lorenzo.boccaccini@inr.fzk.de [Institut Fuer Neutronenphysik und Reaktortechnik, FZK, D-76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Salavy, J.-F., E-mail: jfsalavy@cea.fr [CEA/Saclay, DEN/DM2S, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Knitter, R., E-mail: regina.knitter@imf.fzk.de [Institut Fuer Materialforschung III, FZK, D-76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Moeslang, A., E-mail: anton.moeslang@imf.fzk.de [Institut Fuer Materialforschung I, FZK, D-76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Magielsen, A.J., E-mail: magielsen@nrg.eu [NRG Petten, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands); Hegeman, J.B.J. [NRG Petten, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands); Laesser, R. [Fusion for Energy (F4E), 08019 Barcelona (Spain)

2011-10-01

Europe has developed two reference tritium breeder blankets concepts for a DEMO fusion reactor: the Helium-Cooled Lithium-Lead and the Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed. Both will be tested in ITER under the form of Test Blanket Modules (TBMs). The paper reviews the current status of development and qualification of the EU TBMs functional materials; i.e. ceramic solid breeder materials, beryllium/beryllides multiplier materials and Lithium-Lead liquid metal breeder material Pb-15.7Li. For each functional material the main functional/performance requirements with key qualification issues, current status of the R and D activities and the EU development strategy are presented. In the development strategy major steps considered are listed pointing out importance of the 'Development/qualification/procurement plan', currently under elaboration, for definition of a roadmap of further activities aiming at delivery of qualified functional materials to be used in the European TBMs in ITER.

Detailed mechanical design and manufacturing study for the ITER reference breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zacchia, F.; Daenner, W.; Stefanis, L. de; Ferrari, M.; Gerber, A.; Mustoe, J.

1998-01-01

This papers relates on the detailed mechanical design, manufacturing feasibility and assembly analysis of a water-cooled solid breeding blanket concept, selected as the ITER reference design. This breeding blanket design is characterised by: i) pressurised water flowing inside flat steel panels for cooling of the internals; each panel is welded along its contour onto the first wall structure and to the rear shield plate after closure of the module (last assembly step). ii) Beryllium (neutronic multiplier) in the form of micro-spheres filling the volume between parallel flat coolant panels. iii) Breeder pebbles enclosed in rods, which form bundles and are themselves embedded inside the Beryllium micro-spheres. (authors)

The impact of tritium solubility and diffusivity on inventory and permeation in liquid breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caorlin, M.; Gervasini, G.; Reiter, F.

1988-01-01

The authors reviewed hydrogen solubility and diffusivity data for liquid lithium-based compounds which are potential breeding blanket materials in NET-type fusion devices. These data have been used to assess tritium permeation and inventory in separately cooled NET blankets and in self cooled blankets with a vanadium first wall. The results for the separately cooled NET-liquid breeder show that tritium permeation is negligible for lithium, a serious problem for Pb-17Li and a critical one for Flibe. The total tritium inventory is lowest in lithium, high in Pb-17Li and very high in Flibe. The high tritium partial pressure for Flibe or Pb-17Li can be reduced in a self cooled blanket with a vanadium first wall. Permeation into the plasma reduces the blanket tritium inventory and permeation. Tritium recovery can be combined with the plasma exhaust

Characterization of the effects of continuous salt processing on the performance of molten salt fusion breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson-Hine, F.A.

1984-05-01

Several continuous salt processing options are available for use in molten salt fusion breeder blanket designs. The effects of processing on blanket performance have been assessed for three levels of processing and various equilibrium uranium concentrations in the salt. A one-dimensional model of the blanket was used in the neutronics analysis which incorporated transport calculations with time-dependent isotope generation and depletion calculations. The level of salt processing was found to have little effect on the behavior of the blanket during reactor operation; however, significant effects were observed during the decay period after reactor shutdown

Neutronics Experiment on A HCPB Breeder Blanket Mock-Up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paola Batistoni, P.; Angelone, M.; Bettinali, L.

2006-01-01

A neutronics experiment has been performed in the frame of European Fusion Technology Program on a mock-up of the EU Test Blanket Module (TBM), Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) concept, with the objective to validate the capability of nuclear data to predict nuclear responses, such as the tritium production rate (TPR), with qualified uncertainties. The experiment has been carried out at the FNG 14-MeV neutron source in collaboration between ENEA, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, J. Stefan Institute Ljubljana and with the participation of JAEA. The mock-up, designed in such a way to replicate all relevant nuclear features of the TBM-HCPB, consisted of a steel box containing beryllium block and two intermediate steel cassettes, filled with of Li 2 CO 3 powder, replicating the breeder insert main characteristics: radial thickness, distance between ceramic layers, thickness of ceramic layers and of steel walls. In the experiment, the TPR has been measured using Li 2 CO 3 pellets at various depths at two symmetrical positions at each depth, one in the upper and one in the lower cassette. Twelve pellets were used at each position to determine the TPR profile through the cassette. Three independent measurements were performed by ENEA, TUD/VKTA and JAEA. The neutron flux in the beryllium layer was measured as well using activation foils. The measured tritium production in the TBM (E) was compared with the same quantity (C) calculated by the MCNP.4c using a very detailed model of the experimental set up, and using neutron cross sections from the European Fusion File (EFF ver.3.1) and from the Fusion Evaluated Nuclear Data Library (FENDL ver. 2.1, ITER reference neutron library). C/E ratios were obtained with a total uncertainty on the C/E comparison less than 9% (2 s). A sensitivity and uncertainty analysis has also been performed to evaluate the calculation uncertainty due to the uncertainty on neutron cross sections. The results of such

The blanket interface to TSTA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemmer, R.G.; Finn, P.A.; Grimm, T.L.; Sze, D.K.; Anderson, J.L.; Bartlit, J.R.; Naruse, Y.; Yoshida, H.

1988-01-01

The requirements of tritium technology are centered in three main areas, (1) fuel processing, (2) breeder tritium extraction, and (3) tritium containment. The Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) now in operation at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is dedicated to developing and demonstrating the tritium technology for fuel processing and containment. TSTA is the only fusion fuel processing facility that can operate in a continuous closed-loop mode. The tritium throughput of TSTA is 1000 g/d. However, TSTA does not have a blanket interface system. The authors have initiated a study to define a Breeder Blanket Interface (BBIO) for TSTA. The first step of the work is to define the condition of the gaseous tritium stream from the blanket tritium recovery system. This report summarizes this part of the work for one particular blanket concept, i.e., a self-cooled lithium blanket. The total gas throughput, the hydrogen to tritium ratio, the corrosive chemicals, and the radionuclides are defined. Various methods of tritium recovery from liquid lithium were assessed: yttrium gettering, permeation windows, and molten salt extraction. The authors' evaluation concluded that the best method was molten salt extraction

Achievements in the development of the Water Cooled Solid Breeder Test Blanket Module of Japan to the milestones for installation in ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuru, Daigo; Tanigawa, Hisashi; Hirose, Takanori; Mohri, Kensuke; Seki, Yohji; Enoeda, Mikio; Ezato, Koichiro; Suzuki, Satoshi; Nishi, Hiroshi; Akiba, Masato

2009-01-01

As the primary candidate of ITER Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be tested under the leadership of Japan, a water cooled solid breeder (WCSB) TBM is being developed. This paper shows the recent achievements towards the milestones of ITER TBMs prior to the installation, which consist of design integration in ITER, module qualification and safety assessment. With respect to the design integration, targeting the detailed design final report in 2012, structure designs of the WCSB TBM and the interfacing components (common frame and backside shielding) that are placed in a test port of ITER and the layout of the cooling system are presented. As for the module qualification, a real-scale first wall mock-up fabricated by using the hot isostatic pressing method by structural material of reduced activation martensitic ferritic steel, F82H, and flow and irradiation test of the mock-up are presented. As for safety milestones, the contents of the preliminary safety report in 2008 consisting of source term identification, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and identification of postulated initiating events (PIEs) and safety analyses are presented.

Tritium extraction methods proposed for a solid breeder blanket. Subtask WP-B 6.1 of the European Blanket Program 1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albrecht, H.

1997-04-01

Ten different methods for the extraction of tritium from the purge gas of a ceramic blanket are described and evaluated with respect to their applicability for ITER and DEMO. The methods are based on the conditions that the purge gas is composed of helium with an addition of up to 0.1% of H 2 or O 2 and H 2 O to facilitate the release of tritium, and that tritium occurs in the purge gas in two main chemical forms, i.e. HT and HTO. Individual process steps of many methods are identical; in particular, the application of cold traps, molecular sieve beds, and diffusors are proposed in several cases. Differences between the methods arise mainly from the ways in which various process steps are combined and from the operating conditions which are chosen with respect to temperature and pressure. Up to now, none of the methods has been demonstrated to be reliably applicable for the purge gas conditions foreseen for the operation of an ITER blanket test module (or larger ceramic blanket designs such as for DEMO). These conditions are characterized by very high gas flow rates and extremely low concentrations of HT and HTO. Therefore, a proposal has been made (FZK concept) which is expected to have the best potential for applicability to ITER and DEMO and to incorporate the smallest development risk. In this concept, the extraction of tritium and excess hydrogen is accomplished by using a cold trap for freezing out HTO/H 2 O and a 5A molecular sieve bed for the adsorption of HT/H 2 . (orig.) [de

Neutronics analysis for aqueous self-cooled fusion reactor blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varsamis, G.; Embrechts, M.J.; Jaffa, R.; Steiner, D.; Deutsch, L.; Gierszewski, P.

1986-06-01

The tritium breeding performance of several Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket (ASCB) configurations for fusion reactors has been evaluated. The ASCB concept employs small amounts of lithium compound dissolved in light or heavy water to serve as both coolant and breeding medium. The inherent simplicity of this concept allows the development of blankets with minimal technological risk. The tritium breeding performance of the ASCB concept is a critical issue for this family of blankets. Contrary to conventional blanket designs there will be a significant contribution to the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) in the water coolant/breeder of duct shields, and the 3-D TBR will therefore be similar to the 1-D TBR. The tritium breeding performance of an ASCB for a MARS-like-tandem reactor and an ASCB based breeding-shield for the Next European Torus (NET) are assessed. Two design options for the MARS-like blanket are discussed. One design employs a vanadium first wall, and zircaloy for the structural material. The trade-offs between light water and heavy water cooling options for this zircaloy blanket are discussed. The second design option for MARS relies on the use of a vanadium alloy as the stuctural material, and heavy water as the coolant. It is demonstrated that both design options lead to low-activation blankets that allow class C burial. The breeder-shield for NET consists of a water-cooled stainless steel shield

Pressurizing Behavior on Ingress of Coolant into Pebble Bed of Blanket of Fusion DEMO Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daigo Tsuru; Mikio Enoeda; Masato Akiba

2006-01-01

Solid breeder blankets are being developed as candidate blankets for the Fusion DEMO reactor in Japan. JAEA is performing the development of the water cooled and helium cooled solid breeder blankets. The blanket utilizes ceramic breeder pebbles and multiplier pebbles beds cooled by high pressure water or high pressure helium in the cooling tubes placed in the blanket box structure. In the development of the blanket, it is very important to incorporate the safety technology as well as the performance improvement on tritium production and energy conversion. In the safety design and technology, coolant ingress in the blanket box structure is one of the most important events as the initiators. Especially the thermal hydraulics in the pebble bed in the case of the high pressure coolant ingress is very important to evaluate the pressure propagation and coolant flow behavior. This paper presents the preliminary results of the pressure loss characteristics by the coolant ingress in the pebble bed. Experiments have been performed by using alumina pebble bed (4 litter maximum volume of the pebble bed) and nitrogen gas to simulate the helium coolant ingress into breeder and multiplier pebble beds. Reservoir tank of 10 liter is filled with 1.0 MPa nitrogen. The nitrogen gas is released at the bottom part of the alumina pebble bed whose upper part is open to the atmosphere. The pressure change in the pebble bed is measured to identify the pressure loss. The measured values are compared with the predicted values by Ergun's equation, which is the correlation equation on pressure loss of the flow through porous medium. By the results of the experiments with no constraint on the alumina pebble bed, it was clarified that the measured value agreed in the lower flow rate. However, in the higher flow rate where the pressure loss is high, the measured value is about half of the predicted value. The differences between the measured values and the predicted values will be discussed from

Achievements of element technology development for breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Enoeda, Mikio

2005-03-01

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has been performing the development of breeding blanket for fusion power plant, as a leading institute of the development of solid breeder blankets, according to the long-term R and D program of the blanket development established by the Fusion Council of Japan in 1999. This report is an overview of development plan, achievements of element technology development and future prospect and plan of the development of the solid breeding blanket in JAERI. In this report, the mission of the blanket development activity in JAERI, key issues and roadmap of the blanket development have been clarified. Then, achievements of the element technology development were summarized and showed that the development has progressed to enter the engineering testing phase. The specific development target and plan were clarified with bright prospect. Realization of the engineering test phase R and D and completion of ITER test blanket module testing program, with universities/NIFS cooperation, are most important steps in the development of breeding blanket of fusion power demonstration plant. (author)

Concepts for fusion fuel production blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gierszewski, P.

1986-06-01

The fusion blanket surrounds the burning hydrogen core of the fusion reactor. It is in this blanket that most of the energy released by the DT fusion reaction is converted into useable product, and where tritium fuel is produced to enable further operation of the reactor. Blankets will involve new materials, conditions and processes. Several recent fusion blanket concepts are presented to illustrate the range of ideas

Evolution of actinides in ThO2 blanket of prototype fast breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bachchan, Abhitab; Riyas, A.; Devan, K.; Puthiyavinayagam, P.

2015-01-01

The third stage of India's nuclear program focuses on fissile fuel production through Th- 233 U cycle in view of the better abundance and relative merits of thorium. For early introduction of Thorium into the nuclear energy system, several R and D program has started to find the best possible route of thorium utilization. Towards this, efforts were made to assess the feasibility of Th-U cycle in a fast spectrum reactor like Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). The effect on core neutronic parameters and actinide evolution with the replacement of depleted UO 2 in the PFBR blanket SA with thorium oxide has been studied using 3-D diffusion code FARCOB. Study shows that by the introduction of thorium blanket, core excess reactivity is coming down by ∼ 535 pcm and core breeding ratio is slightly lower than conventional oxide blanket. The distribution of region wise power production is slightly changed. Power from radial blanket is reduced from 3% to 2% while the core-1 power is increased from 49 % to 50 %. The estimated 233 U production is 7.6, 11.5 and 14.1 kg/t with 180, 360 and 540 days of irradiation respectively. (author)

Limitations on blanket performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.

1999-01-01

The limitations on the performance of breeding blankets in a fusion power plant are evaluated. The breeding blankets will be key components of a plant and their limitations with regard to power density, thermal efficiency and lifetime could determine to a large degree the attractiveness of a power plant. The performance of two rather well known blanket concepts under development in the frame of the European Blanket Programme is assessed and their limitations are compared with more advanced (and more speculative) concepts. An important issue is the question of which material (structure, breeder, multiplier, coatings) will limit the performance and what improvement would be possible with a 'better' structural material. This evaluation is based on the premise that the performance of the power plant will be limited by the blankets (including first wall) and not by other components, e.g. divertors, or the plasma itself. However, the justness of this premise remains to be seen. It is shown that the different blanket concepts cover a large range of allowable power densities and achievable thermal efficiencies, and it is concluded that there is a high incentive to go for better performance in spite of possibly higher blanket cost. However, such high performance blankets are usually based on materials and technologies not yet developed and there is a rather high risk that the development could fail. Therefore, it is explained that a part of the development effort should be devoted to concepts where the materials and technologies are more or less in hand in order to ensure that blankets for a DEMO reactor can be developed and tested in a given time frame. (orig.)

Adaptation of the HCPB DEMO TBM as breeding blanket for ITER : Neutronic and thermal analyses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aquaro, D.; Morellini, D.; Cerullo, N.

2006-01-01

Two breeding blanket are presently developed in Europe for the DEMO reactor: the first one, the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) uses a liquid breeder while the other , the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB), uses a solid breeder in form of pebble bed. The modules of these blankets, called Test Blanket Modules (TBM) will be located in correspondence of the equatorial ports of ITER in order to be tested. ITER FEAT was designed with shielding blankets, therefore in the final stage of the experiment, in the foreseen tritium -deuterium operation phase, the tritium will be supplied to the reactor and not produced inside it. Since the production of tritium is of main importance for the feasibility of a nuclear fusion reactor, perhaps in the ITER final stage, the shielding blanket could be substituted by means of a breeding blanket. The geometry and composition of this breeding blanket would be, of course, similar to that of TBM which demonstrated to have the best performances. This paper illustrates a neutronic and thermal analysis of an hypothetical triziogen blanket for ITER FEAT made similar to a HCPB test module. The main aims of the performed analyses are to determine the Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR) considering different solid breeders (Li 4 SiO 4 and Li 2 TiO 3 ) with different enrichment in 6 Li and different structural materials (a 9%CRWVTa reduced activation ferritic martensitic steel (EUROFER) or ceramic matrix composites like SiCf/SiC). The breeding blanket design is compared considering the highest value of TBR and the verification of the temperature constraints ( 550 o C for the steel, 950 o C for the breeder and 650 o C for the Beryllium). The neutronic analyses have been performed by means of MCNP-4C code and the thermal analyses using the MSC-MARC code. A TBR about equal 1 was obtained with a SiCf/SiC structural material and a Li 4 SiO 4 breeder. The performed analyses have to be considered preliminary and an academic exercise, nevertheless they could give

Neutronics Evaluation of Lithium-Based Ternary Alloys in IFE Blankets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jolodosky, A. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Fratoni, M. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

2015-09-22

Lithium is often the preferred choice as breeder and coolant in fusion blankets as it offers excellent heat transfer and corrosion properties, and most importantly, it has a very high tritium solubility and results in very low levels of tritium permeation throughout the facility infrastructure. However, lithium metal vigorously reacts with air and water and exacerbates plant safety concerns. For this reason, over the years numerous blanket concepts have been proposed with the scope of reducing concerns associated with lithium. The European helium cooled pebble bed breeding blanket (HCPB) physically confines lithium within ceramic pebbles. The pebbles reside within a low activation martensitic ferritic steel structure and are cooled by helium. The blanket is composed of the tritium breeding lithium ceramic pebbles and neutron multiplying beryllium pebbles. Other blanket designs utilize lead to lower chemical reactivity; LiPb alone can serve as a breeder, coolant, neutron multiplier, and tritium carrier. Blankets employing LiPb coolants alongside silicon carbide structural components can achieve high plant efficiency, low afterheat, and low operation pressures. This alloy can also be used alongside of helium such as in the dual-coolant lead-lithium concept (DCLL); helium is utilized to cool the first wall and structural components made up of low-activation ferritic steel, whereas lithium-lead (LiPb) acts as a self-cooled breeder in the inner channels of the blanket. The helium-cooled steel and lead-lithium alloy are separated by flow channel inserts (usually made out of silicon carbide) which thermally insulate the self-cooled breeder region from the helium cooled steel walls. This creates a LiPb breeder with a much higher exit temperature than the steel which increases the power cycle efficiency and also lowers the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure drop [6]. Molten salt blankets with a mixture of lithium, beryllium, and fluorides (FLiBe) offer good tritium breeding

Effective thermal conductivity of advanced ceramic breeder pebble beds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pupeschi, S., E-mail: simone.pupeschi@kit.edu; Knitter, R.; Kamlah, M.

2017-03-15

As the knowledge of the effective thermal conductivity of ceramic breeder pebble beds under fusion relevant conditions is essential for the development of solid breeder blanket concepts, the EU advanced and reference lithium orthosilicate material were investigated with a newly developed experimental setup based on the transient hot wire method. The effective thermal conductivity was investigated in the temperature range RT–700 °C. Experiments were performed in helium and air atmospheres in the pressure range 0.12–0.4 MPa (abs.) under a compressive load up to 6 MPa. Results show a negligible influence of the chemical composition of the solid material on the bed’s effective thermal conductivity. A severe reduction of the effective thermal conductivity was observed in air. In both atmospheres an increase of the effective thermal conductivity with the temperature was detected, while the influence of the compressive load was found to be small. A clear dependence of the effective thermal conductivity on the pressure of the filling gas was observed in helium in contrast to air, where the pressure dependence was drastically reduced.

Tritium-assisted fusion breeders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Greenspan, E.; Miley, G.H.

1983-08-01

This report undertakes a preliminary assessment of the prospects of tritium-assisted D-D fuel cycle fusion breeders. Two well documented fusion power reactor designs - the STARFIRE (D-T fuel cycle) and the WILDCAT (Cat-D fuel cycle) tokamaks - are converted into fusion breeders by replacing the fusion electric blankets with 233 U producing fission suppressed blankets; changing the Cat-D fuel cycle mode of operation by one of the several tritium-assisted D-D-based modes of operation considered; adjusting the reactor power level; and modifying the resulting plant cost to account for the design changes. Three sources of tritium are considered for assisting the D-D fuel cycle: tritium produced in the blankets from lithium or from 3 He and tritium produced in the client fission reactors. The D-D-based fusion breeders using tritium assistance are found to be the most promising economically, especially the Tritium Catalyzed Deuterium mode of operation in which the 3 He exhausted from the plasma is converted, by neutron capture in the blanket, into tritium which is in turn fed back to the plasma. The number of fission reactors of equal thermal power supported by Tritium Catalyzed Deuterium fusion breeders is about 50% higher than that of D-T fusion breeders, and the profitability is found to be slightly lower than that of the D-T fusion breeders

Economic performance of liquid-metal fast breeder reactor and gas-cooled fast reactor radial blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsoulfanidis, N.; Jankhah, M.H.

1979-01-01

The economic performance of the radial blanket of a liquid-metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) and a gas-cooled fast reactor (GCFR) has been studied based on the calculation of the net financial gain as well as the value of the levelized fuel cost. The necessary reactor physics calculations have been performed using the code CITATION, and the economic analysis has been carried out with the code ECOBLAN, which has been written for that purpose. The residence time of fuel in the blanket is the main variable of the economic analysis. Other parameters that affect the results and that have been considered are the value of plutonium, the price of heat, the effective cost of money, and the holdup time of the spent fuel before reprocessing. The results show that the radial blanket of both reactors is a producer of net positive income for a broad range of values of the parameters mentioned above. The position of the fuel in the blanket and the fuel management scheme applied affect the monetary gain. There is no significant difference between the economic performance of the blanket of an LMFBR and a GCFR

Status of fusion reactor blanket evaluation studies in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carre, F.; Chevereau, G.; Gervaise, F.; Proust, E.

1985-03-01

In the frame of recent CEA studies aiming at the evaluation and at the comparison of various candidate blanket concepts in moderate power conditions (Psub(n) approximately 2 MW/m 2 ), the present work examines the neutronic and thermomechanical performances of a water cooled Li 17 Pb 83 tubular blanket and those of a helium cooled canister blanket taking advantage of the excellent breeding capability of composite Beryllium/LiAlO 2 (85/15%) breeder elements. The purpose of the following discussion is to justify the impetus for these reference concepts and to summarize the state of their evaluation studies updated by the continuous assimilation of calculations and experiments in progress

Disruption problematics in segmented blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crutzen, Y.; Fantechi, S.; Farfaletti-Casali, F.

1994-01-01

In Tokamaks, the hostile operating environment originated by plasma disruption events requires that the first wall/blanket/shield components sustain the large induced electromagnetic (EM) forces without significant structural deformation and within allowable material stresses. As a consequence there is a need to improve the safety features of the blanket design concepts satisfying the disruption problematics and to formulate guidelines on the required internal reinforcements of the blanket components. The present paper describes the recent investigations on blanket reinforcement systems needed in order to optimize the first-wall/blanket/shield structural design for next step and commercial fusion reactors in the context of ITER, DEMO and SEAFP activities

Overview of the Last Progresses for the European Test Blanket Modules Projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salavy, J.-F.; Rampal, G.; Boccaccini, L.V.; Meyder, R.; Neuberger, H.; Laesser, R.; Poitevin, Y.; Zmitko, M.; Rigal, E.

2006-01-01

The long-term objective of the EU Breeding Blankets programme is the development of DEMO breeding blankets, which shall assure tritium self-sufficiency, an economically attractive use of the heat produced inside the blankets for electricity generation and a sufficiently high shielding of the superconducting magnets for long time operation. In the short-term so-called DEMO relevant Test Blanket Modules (TBMs) of these breeder blanket concepts shall be designed, manufactured, tested, installed, commissioned and operated in ITER for first tests in a fusion environment. The Helium Cooled Lithium-Lead (HCLL) breeder blanket and the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) concepts are the two breeder blanket lines presently developed by the EU. The main objective of the EU test strategy related to TBMs in ITER is to provide the necessary information for the design and fabrication of breeding blankets for a future DEMO reactor. EU TBMs shall therefore use the same structural and functional materials, apply similar fabrication technologies, and test adequate processes and components. This paper gives an overview of the last progresses in terms of system design, calculations, test program, safety and R-and-D done these last two years in order to cope with the ambitious objective to introduce two EU TBM systems for day-1 of ITER operation. The engineering design of the two systems is mostly concluded and the priority is now on the development and qualification of the fabrication technologies. From calculations point of view, the last modelling efforts related to the thermal-hydraulic of the first wall, the tritium behaviour, and the box thermal and mechanical resistance in accidental conditions are presented. Last features of the TBM and cooling system designs and integration in ITER reactor are highlighted. In particular, this paper also describes the safety and licensing analyses performed for each concept to be able to include the TBM systems in the ITER preliminary safety report

Preliminary RAMI analysis of WCLL blanket and breeder systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arroyo, Jose Manuel; Brown, Richard; Harman, Jon; Rosa, Elena; Ibarra, Angel

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Preliminary RAMI model for WCLL has been developed. • Critical parts and parameters influencing WCLL availability have been focused. • Necessary developments of tools/models to represent system performance have been identified. - Abstract: DEMO will be a prototype fusion reactor designed to prove the capability to produce electrical power in a commercially acceptable way. One of the key factors in that endeavor is the achievement of certain level of plant availability. Therefore, RAMI (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Inspectability) will be a key element in the engineering development of DEMO. Some studies have been started so as to develop the tools and models to assess different design alternatives from RAMI point of view. The main objective of these studies is to be able to evaluate the influence of different parameters on DEMO availability and to focus the critical parts that should be further researched and improved in order to develop a high-availability oriented DEMO design. A preliminary RAMI analysis of the Water Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) blanket and breeder concept for DEMO has been developed. The amounts of single elements that may fail (e.g. more than 180,000 C-shaped tubes) and the mean down time associated to failures inside the vacuum vessel (around 3 months) have been highlighted as the critical parameters influencing the system availability. On the other hand, the necessary developments of tools/models to better represent the system performance have been identified and proposed for future work.

Preliminary RAMI analysis of WCLL blanket and breeder systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arroyo, Jose Manuel, E-mail: josemanuel.arroyo@ciemat.es [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión por Confinamiento Magnético – CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain); Brown, Richard [Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon (United Kingdom); Harman, Jon [EFDA Close Support Unit, Garching (Germany); Rosa, Elena; Ibarra, Angel [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión por Confinamiento Magnético – CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • Preliminary RAMI model for WCLL has been developed. • Critical parts and parameters influencing WCLL availability have been focused. • Necessary developments of tools/models to represent system performance have been identified. - Abstract: DEMO will be a prototype fusion reactor designed to prove the capability to produce electrical power in a commercially acceptable way. One of the key factors in that endeavor is the achievement of certain level of plant availability. Therefore, RAMI (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Inspectability) will be a key element in the engineering development of DEMO. Some studies have been started so as to develop the tools and models to assess different design alternatives from RAMI point of view. The main objective of these studies is to be able to evaluate the influence of different parameters on DEMO availability and to focus the critical parts that should be further researched and improved in order to develop a high-availability oriented DEMO design. A preliminary RAMI analysis of the Water Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) blanket and breeder concept for DEMO has been developed. The amounts of single elements that may fail (e.g. more than 180,000 C-shaped tubes) and the mean down time associated to failures inside the vacuum vessel (around 3 months) have been highlighted as the critical parameters influencing the system availability. On the other hand, the necessary developments of tools/models to better represent the system performance have been identified and proposed for future work.

The transpiration cooled first wall and blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barleon, Leopold; Wong, Clement

2002-01-01

To achieve high thermal performance at high power density the EVOLVE concept was investigated under the APEX program. The EVOLVE W-alloy first wall and blanket concept proposes to use transpiration cooling of the first wall and boiling or vaporizing lithium (Li) in the blanket zone. Critical issues of this concept are: the Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pressure losses of the Li circuit, the evaporation through a capillary structure and the needed superheating of the Li at the first wall and blanket zones. Application of the transpiration concept to the blanket region results in the integrated transpiration cooling concept (ITCC) with either toroidal or poloidal first wall channels. For both orientations the routing of the liquid Li and the Li vapor has been modeled and the corresponding pressure losses have been calculated by varying the width of the supplying slot and the capillary diameter. The concept works when the sum of the active and passive pumping head is higher than the total system pressure losses and when the temperature at the inner side of the first wall does not override the superheating limit of the coolant. This cooling concept has been extended to the divertor design, and the removal of a surface heat flux of up to 10 MW/m 2 appears to be possible, but this paper will focus on the transpiration cooled first wall and blanket concept assessment

An aqueous lithium salt blanket option for fusion power reactors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Steiner, D.; Varsamis, G. (Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (USA). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics); Deutsch, L.; Rathke, J. (Grumman Corp., Bethpage, NY (USA). Advanced Energy Systems); Gierszewski, P. (Canadian Fusion Fuels Technology Project (CFFTP), Mississauga, ON (Canada))

1989-04-01

An aqueous lithium salt blanket (ALSB) concept is proposed which could be the basis for either a power reactor blanket or a test module in an engineering test reactor. The design is based on an austenitic stainless steel structure, a beryllium multiplier, and a salt breeder concentration of about 32 g LiNO/sub 3/ per 100 cm/sup 3/ of H/sub 2/O. To limit tritium release rates, the salt breeder solution is separated from the water coolant circuit. The overall tritium system cost for a 2400 MW (fusion power) reactor is estimated to be 180 million Dollar US87 installed. (orig.).

Particle flow of ceramic breeder pebble beds in bi-axial compression experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermsmeyer, S.; Reimann, J.

2002-01-01

Pebble beds of Tritium breeding ceramic material are investigated within the framework of developing solid breeder blankets for future nuclear fusion power plants. For the thermo-mechanical characterisation of such pebble beds, bed compression experiments are the standard tools. New bi-axial compression experiments on 20 and 30 mm high pebble beds show pebble flow effects much more pronounced than in previous 10 mm beds. Owing to the greater bed height, conditions are reached where the bed fails in cross direction and unhindered flow of the pebbles occurs. The paper presents measurements for the orthosilicate and metatitanate breeder materials that are envisaged to be used in a solid breeder blanket. The data are compared with calculations made with a Drucker-Prager soil model within the finite-element code ABAQUS, calibrated with data from other experiments. It is investigated empirically whether internal bed friction angles can be determined from pebble beds of the considered heights, which would simplify, and broaden the data base for, the calibration of the Drucker-Prager pebble bed models

Ceramic breeder materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, C.E.

1990-01-01

The breeding blanket is a key component of the fusion reactor because it directly involves tritium breeding and energy extraction, both of which are critical to development of fusion power. The lithium ceramics continue to show promise as candidate breeder materials. This promise was recognized by the International Thermonuclear Reactor (ITER) design team in its selection of ceramics as the first option for the ITER breeder material. Blanket design studies have indicated properties in the candidate materials data base that need further investigation. Current studies are focusing on tritium release behavior at high burnup, changes in thermophysical properties with burnup, compatibility between the ceramic breeder and beryllium multiplier, and phase changes with burnup. Laboratory and in-reactor tests, some as part of an international collaboration for development of ceramic breeder materials, are underway. 32 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab

Analysis of the HCPB breeder blanket bock-up experiment for ITER using SUSD3D code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodeli, I.

2005-01-01

In order to validate new nuclear cross-section evaluations, method development and design of the helium-cooled pebble bed (HCPB) test blanket module of ITER a benchmark experiment was performed this year at the Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) in the scope of the EFF (European Fusion File) project in Europe. The objective of this experiment is to study the tritium breeding ratio and other nuclear quantities in a breeder blanket in order to establish and improve the quality of related JEFF nuclear data. The experiment consists of a metallic beryllium set-up with two double layers of breeder material (Li 2 CO 3 powder). The reaction rate measurements include the Li 2 CO 3 pellets (tritium breeding ratio), activation foils, and neutron and gamma spectrometers inserted at several axial and lateral locations in the block. Our task is to perform the deterministic transport, and cross section sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The role of the cross-section sensitivity and uncertainty analysis is to optimise the design of the benchmark, and to assist in the interpretation of the measurement results. The paper presents the pre- and post- analysis of the benchmark experiment. (author)

Aqueous self-cooled blanket concepts for fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varsamis, G.; Embrechts, M.J.; Steiner, D.; Deutsch, L.; Gierszewski, P.

1987-01-01

A novel aqueous self-cooled blanket (ASCB) concept has been proposed. The water coolant also serves as the tritium breeding medium by dissolving small amounts of lithium compound in the water. The tritium recovery requirements of the ASCB concept may be facilitated by the novel in-situ radiolytic tritium separation technique in development at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. In this separation process deuterium gas is bubbled through the blanket coolant. Due to radiation induced processes, the equilibrium constant favors tritium migration to the deuterium gas stream. It is expected that the inherent simplicity of this design will result in a highly reliable, safe and economically attractive breeding blanket for fusion reactors. The available base of relevant information accumulated through water-cooled fission reactor programs should greatly facilitate the R and D effort required to validate the proposed blanket concept. Tests for tritium separation and corrosion compatibility show encouraging results for the feasibility of this concept

High temperature blankets for non-electrical/electrical applications of fusion reactors: Progress report, July 15, 1983--November 30, 1984

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ribe, F.L.; Woodruff, G.L.

1988-01-01

We report a continuation of work done in collaboration with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) on design studies of the tandem-mirror fusion reactor (TMR) coupled to the General Atomic (GA) sulfur-iodine thermochemical process for producing hydrogen. During this report period the emphasis was on a solid-breeder gas cooled ''cannister'' blanket for TMR-based hydrogen production. This work was integrated with the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Fusion Energy (OFE) Blanket Comparison and Selection Study, coordinated by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The areas investigated by the two principal investigators and their students were the following: Plasma engineering of the TMR, including the magnets. Neutronics transport support for the synfuel blanket and shield. Completion of studies of the GA sulfur-iodine process. Under subcontract D.S. Rowe of Rowe and Associates worked with both UW and LLNL personnel on Mechanical design and thermal hydraulics of a high temperature, solid breeder blanket. 2 refs., 3 figs

Applications of the Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Steiner, D.; Embrechts, M.J.; Varsamis, G.; Wrisley, K.; Deutch, L.; Gierszewski, P.

1986-01-01

In this paper a novel water-cooled blanket concept is examined. This concept, designated the Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket (ASCB), employs water with small amounts of dissolved fertile compounds as both the coolant and the breeding medium. The ASCB concept is reviewed and its application in three different contexts is examined: (1) power reactors; (2) near-term devices such as NET; and (3) fusion-fission hybrids

Characterization of the effects of continuous salt processing on the performance of molten salt fusion breeder blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patterson-Hine, F.A.; Davidson, J.W.; Klein, D.E.; Lee, J.D.

1985-01-01

Several continuous salt processing options are available for use in molten salt fusion breeder blanket designs: fluorination only, fluorination plus reductive extraction, and fluorination, plus reductive extraction, plus metal transfer. The effects of processing on blanket performance have been assessed for these three levels of processing and various equilibrium uranium concentrations in the salt. A one-dimensional model of the blanket was used in the neutronics analysis, which incorporated transport calculations with time-dependent isotope generation and depletion calculations. The method of salt processing was found to have little affect on the level of radioactivity, toxicity, or the thermal behavior of the salt during operation of the reactor. The processing rates necessary to maintain the desired uranium concentrations in the suppressed-fission environment were quite low, which permitted only long-lived species to be removed from the salt. The effects of the processing therefore became apparent only after the radioactivity due to the short-lived species diminished. The effect of the additional processing (reductive extraction and metal transfer) could be seen after approximately 1 year of decay, but were not significant at times closer to shutdown. The reduced radioactivity and corresponding heat deposition were thus of no consequence in accident or maintenance situations. Net fissile production in the Be/MS blanket concept at a fusion power level of 3000 MW at 70% capacity ranged from 5100 kg/year to 5170 kg/year for uranium concentrations of 0.11% and 1.0% 233 U in thorium, respectively, with fluorination-only processing. The addition of processing by reductive extraction resulted in 5125 kg/year for the 0.11% 233 U case and 5225 kg/year for the 1.0% 233 U case

Tritium transport analysis for CFETR WCSB blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhao, Pinghui, E-mail: phzhao@mail.ustc.edu.cn; Yang, Wanli; Li, Yuanjie; Ge, Zhihao; Nie, Xingchen; Gao, Zhongping

2017-01-15

Highlights: • A simplified tritium transport model for CFETR WCSB blanket was developed. • Tritium transport process in CFETR WCSB blanket was analyzed. • Sensitivity analyses of tritium transport parameters were carried out. - Abstract: Water Cooled Solid Breeder (WCSB) blanket was put forward as one of the breeding blanket candidate schemes for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). In this study, a simplified tritium transport model was developed. Based on the conceptual engineering design, neutronics and thermal-hydraulic analyses of CFETR WCSB blanket, tritium transport process was analyzed. The results show that high tritium concentration and inventory exist in primary water loop and total tritium losses exceed CFETR limits under current conditions. Conducted were sensitivity analyses of influential parameters, including tritium source, temperature, flow-rate capacity and surface condition. Tritium performance of WCSB blanket can be significantly improved under a smaller tritium impinging rate, a larger flow-rate capacity or a better surface condition. This work provides valuable reference for the enhancement of tritium transport behavior in CFETR WCSB blanket.

Coated ceramic breeder materials

Science.gov (United States)

Tam, Shiu-Wing; Johnson, Carl E.

1987-01-01

A breeder material for use in a breeder blanket of a nuclear reactor is disclosed. The breeder material comprises a core material of lithium containing ceramic particles which has been coated with a neutron multiplier such as Be or BeO, which coating has a higher thermal conductivity than the core material.

Magnetoconvection in HCLL blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mistrangelo, C.; Buehler, L.

2014-01-01

In the present work we consider magneto-convective flows in one of the proposed European liquid metal blankets that will be tested in the experimental fusion reactor ITER. Here the PbLi alloy is used as breeder material and helium as coolant. In order to finalize the design of the helium cooled lead lithium (HCLL) blanket, studies are still required to fully understand the behavior of the electrically conducting breeder under the influence of the intense magnetic field that confines the fusion plasma and in case of non-uniform thermal conditions. Liquid metal HCLL blanket flows are expected to be mainly driven by buoyancy forces caused by non-isothermal operating conditions due to neutron volumetric heating and cooling of walls, since only a weak forced ow is foreseen for tritium extraction in external ancillary systems. Buoyancy can therefore become very important and modify the velocity distribution and related heat transfer performance of the blanket. The present numerical study aims at clarifying the influence of electromagnetic and thermal coupling of neighboring fluid domains on magneto-convective flows in geometries relevant for the HCLL blanket concept. According to the last design review two internal cooling plates subdivide the fluid domain into three slender flow regions, which are thermally and electrically coupled through common walls. First a uniform volumetric heat source is considered to identify the basic convective patterns that establish in the liquid metal. Results are then compared with those obtained by applying a realistic radial distribution of the power density as obtained from a neutronic analysis. Velocity and temperature distributions are discussed for various volumetric heat sources and magnetic field strengths.

Thermal-hydraulic analysis on the whole module of water cooled ceramic breeder blanket for CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Kecheng; Ma, Xuebin [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China); Cheng, Xiaoman [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); Lin, Shuang [University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China); Huang, Kai [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); Liu, Songlin, E-mail: slliu@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • The 3D thermal hydraulic analysis on the whole module of WCCB is performed by CFD method. • Temperature field and mass flow distribution have been obtained. • The design of WCCB is reasonable from the perspective of thermal-hydraulics. • The scheme for further optimization has been proposed. - Abstract: The Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder blanket (WCCB) is being researched for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The thermal-hydraulic analysis is essential because the blanket should remove the high heat flux from the plasma and the volumetric heat generated by neutrons. In this paper, the detailed three dimensional (3D) thermal hydraulic analysis on the whole module of WCCB blanket has been performed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method, which is capable of solving conjugate heat transfer between solid structure and fluid. The main results, including temperature field, distribution of mass flow rate and coolant pressure drop, have been calculated simultaneously. These provides beneficial guidance data for the further structural optimization and for the design arrangement of primary and secondary circuit. Under the total heat source of 1.23 MW, the coolant mass flow rate of 5.457 kg/s is required to make coolant water corresponding to the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) condition (15.5 MPa, 285 °C–325 °C), generating the total coolant pressure drop (△P) of 0.467 MPa. The results show that the present structural design can make all the materials effectively cooled to the allowable temperature range, except for a few small modifications on the both sides of FW. The main components, including the first wall (FW), cooling plates (CPs), side wall (SWs)&stiffening plates (SPs) and the manifold(1–4), dominate 4.7%/41.7%/13%/40.6% of the total pressure drop, respectively. Additionally, the mass flow rate of each channel has been obtained, showing the peak relative deviation of 3.4% and 2% from the average for the paratactic

Packed-fluidized-bed blanket concept for a thorium-fueled commercial tokamak hybrid reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chi, J.W.H.; Miller, J.W.; Karbowski, J.S.; Chapin, D.L.; Kelly, J.L.

1980-09-01

A preliminary design of a thorium blanket was carried out as a part of the Commercial Tokamak Hybrid Reactor (CTHR) study. A fixed fuel blanket concept was developed as the reference CTHR blanket with uranium carbide fuel and helium coolant. A fixed fuel blanket was initially evaluated for the thorium blanket study. Subsequently, a new type of hybrid blanket, a packed-fluidized bed (PFB), was conceived. The PFB blanket concept has a number of unique features that may solve some of the problems encountered in the design of tokamak hybrid reactor blankets. This report documents the thorium blanket study and describes the feasibility assessment of the PFB blanket concept

Fusion blanket design and optimization techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

2005-01-01

In fusion reactors, the blanket design and its characteristics have a major impact on the reactor performance, size, and economics. The selection and arrangement of the blanket materials, dimensions of the different blanket zones, and different requirements of the selected materials for a satisfactory performance are the main parameters, which define the blanket performance. These parameters translate to a large number of variables and design constraints, which need to be simultaneously considered in the blanket design process. This represents a major design challenge because of the lack of a comprehensive design tool capable of considering all these variables to define the optimum blanket design and satisfying all the design constraints for the adopted figure of merit and the blanket design criteria. The blanket design techniques of the First Wall/Blanket/Shield Design and Optimization System (BSDOS) have been developed to overcome this difficulty and to provide the state-of-the-art techniques and tools for performing blanket design and analysis. This report describes some of the BSDOS techniques and demonstrates its use. In addition, the use of the optimization technique of the BSDOS can result in a significant blanket performance enhancement and cost saving for the reactor design under consideration. In this report, examples are presented, which utilize an earlier version of the ITER solid breeder blanket design and a high power density self-cooled lithium blanket design for demonstrating some of the BSDOS blanket design techniques

Fusion breeder: its potential role and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, J.D.

1981-01-01

The fusion breeder is a concept that utilizes 14 MeV neutrons from D + T → n(14.1 MeV) + α(3.5 MeV) fusion reactions to produce more fuel than the tritium (T) needed to sustain the fusion process. This excess fuel production capacity is used to produce fissile material (Pu-239 or U-233) for subsequent use in fission reactors. We are concentrating on a class of blankets we call fission suppressed. The blanket is the region surrounding the fusion plasma in which fusion neutrons interact to produce fuel and heat. The fission-suppressed blanket uses non-fission reactions (mainly (n,2n) or (n,n't)) to generate excess neutrons for the production of net fuel. This is in contrast to the fast fission class of blankets which use (n,fiss) reactions to generate excess neutrons. Fusion reactors with fast fission blankets are commony known as fusion-fission hybrids because they combine fusion and fission in the same device

Compatibility of 316L stainless steel with tritium breeders for fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Broc, M.; Fauvet, P.; Flament, T.; Sannier, J.

1986-06-01

Compatibility problems with structural materials are a concern for the choice of the tritium breeder for fusion reactors. In the frame of the European Programme on Fusion Technology, two types of blankets are considered: liquid (eutectic lithium-lead alloy at 0.68 wt % Li: 17Li83Pb) and solid (lithium aluminate or silicate) breeders. This paper is devoted to compatibility studies of 316L stainless steel with 17Li83Pb alloy and γ-LiA10 2 ceramic

Thermal Hydraulic Design and Analysis of a Water-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket with Superheated Steam for CFETR

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Xiaoman; Ma, Xuebin; Jiang, Kecheng; Chen, Lei; Huang, Kai; Liu, Songlin

2015-09-01

The water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket (WCCB) is one of the blanket candidates for China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR). In order to improve power generation efficiency and tritium breeding ratio, WCCB with superheated steam is under development. The thermal-hydraulic design is the key to achieve the purpose of safe heat removal and efficient power generation under normal and partial loading operation conditions. In this paper, the coolant flow scheme was designed and one self-developed analytical program was developed, based on a theoretical heat transfer model and empirical correlations. Employing this program, the design and analysis of related thermal-hydraulic parameters were performed under different fusion power conditions. The results indicated that the superheated steam water-cooled blanket is feasible. supported by the National Special Project for Magnetic Confined Nuclear Fusion Energy of China (Nos. 2013GB108004, 2014GB122000 and 2014GB119000), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11175207)

Present development status of EUROFER and ODS-EUROFER for application in blanket concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lindau, R. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Materials Research I, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany)]. E-mail: rainer.lindau@imf.fzk.de; Moeslang, A. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Materials Research I, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Rieth, M. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Materials Research I, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Klimiankou, M. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Materials Research I, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Materna-Morris, E. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Institute for Materials Research I, P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany); Alamo, A. [CEA-Saclay, SRMA/SMPX, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Tavassoli, A.-A. F. [CEA-Saclay, SRMA/SMPX, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Cayron, C. [CEA-Grenoble, DRT/DTEN/SMP/LS2M, 17, rue des Martyrs, 38054 Grenoble Cedex 9 (France); Lancha, A.-M. [CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense no. 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Fernandez, P. [CIEMAT, Avda. Complutense no. 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Baluc, N. [CRPP-EPFL, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Schaeublin, R. [CRPP-EPFL, 5232 Villigen PSI (Switzerland); Diegele, E. [EFDA Close Support Unit, Boltzmannstr. 2, 85748 Garching (Germany); Filacchioni, G. [ENEA CR Casaccia, Via Anguillarese 301, 00100 S. Maria di Galeria, Rome (Italy); Rensman, J.W. [NRG, MM and I, Westerduinweg 3, P.O. Box 25, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands); Schaaf, B. van der [NRG, MM and I, Westerduinweg 3, P.O. Box 25, 1755 ZG Petten (Netherlands); Lucon, E. [SCK-CEN, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol (Belgium); Dietz, W. [MECS, Schoenenborner Weg 15, 51789 Lindlar (Germany)

2005-11-15

Within the European Union, the two major breeding blanket concepts presently being developed are the helium cooled pebble bed (HCPB), and the helium cooled lithium lead (HCLL) blankets. For both concepts, different conceptual designs are being discussed with temperature windows in the range 250-550 deg. C for conservative approaches based on reduced activation ferritic-martensitic (RAFM) steels, and in the range 250-650 deg. C for more advanced versions, taking into account oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels. As a final result of a systematic development of RAFM-steels in Europe, the 9% CrWVTa alloy EUROFER was specified and produced in an industrial scale with a variety of product forms. A large characterisation program is being performed including irradiation in materials test reactors between 60 and 450 deg. C ({<=}15 dpa), and in a fast breeder reactor at 330 deg. C up to 30 dpa. EUROFER is resistant to high temperature ageing, and the existing creep-rupture data ({approx}30,000 h, 450-600 deg. C) indicate long-term stability and predictability. The ODS variant of EUROFER shows superior tensile and creep properties compared to EUROFER. Applying a new production route has diminished the problem of lower ductility and inferior impact properties. A reliable joining technique for ODS and RAFM steels employing diffusion welding was successfully developed.

Thermal response of a pin-type fusion reactor blanket during steady and transient reactor operation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grotz, S.; Ghoniem, N.M.

1986-02-01

The thermal analysis of the blanket examines both the steady-state and transient reactor operations. The steady-state analysis covers full power and fractional power operation whereas the transient analysis examines the effects of power ramps and blanket preheat. The blanket configuration chosen for this study is a helium cooled solid breeder design. We first discuss the full power, steady-state temperature fields in the first wall, beryllium rods, and breeder rods. Next we examine the effects of fractional power on coolant flow and temperature field distributions. This includes power plateaus of 10%, 20%, 50%, 80%, and 100% of full power. Also examined are the restrictions on the rates of power ramping between plateaus. Finally we discuss the power and time requirements for pre-heating the primary from cold iron conditions up to startup temperature (250 0 C)

Development of a new cellular solid breeder for enhanced tritium production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharafat, Shahram; Williams, Brian; Ghoniem, Nasr; Ghoniem, Adam; Shimada, Masashi; Ying, Alice

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A new cellular solid breeder is presented with 2 to 3× the thermal conductivity and substantially higher density (∼90%) compared with pebble beds. • The cellular solid breeder contains an internal network of interconnected open micro-channels (∼50 –100 μm diam.) for efficient tritium release. • Cellular breeders are made by melt-infiltrating Li-based ceramic materials into an open-cell carbon foam followed by removal of the foam. • High temperature (750 °C and 40 °C/mm) cyclic compression tests demonstrated good structural integrity (no cracking) and low Young’s modulus of of <5 GPa. • Deuterium absorption–desorption release rates were comparable with those from pebble beds with similar characteristic T-diffusion lengths. - Abstract: A new high-performance cellular solid breeder is presented that has several times the thermal conductivity and is substantially denser compared with sphere-packed breeder beds. The cellular breeder is fabricated using a patented process of melt-infiltrating ceramic breeder material into an open-cell carbon foam. Following solidification the carbon foam is removed by oxidation. This process results in a near 90% dense robust freestanding breeder in a block configuration with an internal network of open interconnected micro-channels for tritium release. The network of interconnected micro-channels was investigated using X-ray tomography. Aside from increased density and thermal conductivity relative to pebble beds, high temperature sintering is eliminated and thermal durability is increased. Cellular breeder morphology, thermal conductivity, specific heat, porosity levels, high temperature mechanical properties, and deuterium charging-desorption rates are presented.

Development of a new cellular solid breeder for enhanced tritium production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sharafat, Shahram, E-mail: sharams@gmail.com [University of California Los Angeles, 420 Westwood Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1587 (United States); Williams, Brian [Ultramet, Pacoima, CA 91331-2210 (United States); Ghoniem, Nasr [University of California Los Angeles, 420 Westwood Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1587 (United States); Ghoniem, Adam [Digital Materials Solutions, Inc., Westwood, CA 90024 (United States); Shimada, Masashi [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States); Ying, Alice [University of California Los Angeles, 420 Westwood Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90095-1587 (United States)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • A new cellular solid breeder is presented with 2 to 3× the thermal conductivity and substantially higher density (∼90%) compared with pebble beds. • The cellular solid breeder contains an internal network of interconnected open micro-channels (∼50 –100 μm diam.) for efficient tritium release. • Cellular breeders are made by melt-infiltrating Li-based ceramic materials into an open-cell carbon foam followed by removal of the foam. • High temperature (750 °C and 40 °C/mm) cyclic compression tests demonstrated good structural integrity (no cracking) and low Young’s modulus of of <5 GPa. • Deuterium absorption–desorption release rates were comparable with those from pebble beds with similar characteristic T-diffusion lengths. - Abstract: A new high-performance cellular solid breeder is presented that has several times the thermal conductivity and is substantially denser compared with sphere-packed breeder beds. The cellular breeder is fabricated using a patented process of melt-infiltrating ceramic breeder material into an open-cell carbon foam. Following solidification the carbon foam is removed by oxidation. This process results in a near 90% dense robust freestanding breeder in a block configuration with an internal network of open interconnected micro-channels for tritium release. The network of interconnected micro-channels was investigated using X-ray tomography. Aside from increased density and thermal conductivity relative to pebble beds, high temperature sintering is eliminated and thermal durability is increased. Cellular breeder morphology, thermal conductivity, specific heat, porosity levels, high temperature mechanical properties, and deuterium charging-desorption rates are presented.

Evaluation of potential blanket concepts for a Demonstration Tokamak Hybrid Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapin, D.L.; Chi, J.W.H.; Kelly, J.L.

1978-01-01

An evaluation has been made of several different blanket concepts for use in a near-term Demonstration Tokamak Hybrid Reactor (DTHR), whose main objective would be to produce a significant amount of fissile fuel while demonstrating the feasibility of the tokamak hybrid reactor concept. The desirability of a simple design using proven technology plus a proliferation resistant fuel cycle led to the selection of a low temperature and pressure water-cooled, zircaloy clad ThO 2 blanket concept to breed 233 U. The nuclear performance and thermal-hydraulics characteristics of the blanket were evaluated to arrive at a consistent design. The blanket was found to be feasible for producing a significant amount of fissile fuel even with the limited operating conditions and blanket coverage in the DTHR

Thermal-hydraulic investigations on the CEA-ENEA DEMO relevant helium cooled poloidal blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dell'Orco, G.; Polazzi, G.; Vallette, F.; Proust, E.; Eid, M.

1994-01-01

The CEA-ENEA design of an Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Blanket (HCSBB) for the DEMO reactor, with a breeder in tube (BIT) poloidal arrangement, is based on the use of lithium ceramic pellets, the ENEA γ-LiAlO 2 or the CEA Li 2 ZrO 3 . Due to the geometry of the DEMO reactor plasma chamber, these breeder bundles are adapted to the Vacuum Vessel with a strong poloidal curvature. This curvature influences the thermal-hydraulic behaviour of the coolant flowing inside the bundle. The paper presents the CEA-ENEA first results of the experimental and theoretical programme, aiming at optimizing the breeder module thermal hydraulic design. (author) 6 refs.; 7 figs.; 1 tab

Fast Breeder Blanket Facility. Quarterly progress report, July 1, 1978--September 30, 1978

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clikeman, F.M.

1978-09-01

This quarterly progress report summarizes work done at Purdue University's Fast Breeder Blanket Facility for the Department of Energy during the months July to September 1978. The summary includes reports on the models and methods used to characterize the FBBF facility. Using the reported models and calculational methods and computer codes a new cross section set has been generated, self-shielded for 300 0 K for use in all FBBF calculations using the 2DB computer code. The summary includes reports of the reproducability of foil activation data and measurements of the azmuthal symmetry of the facility. The status of the development of technique for the experimental measurements and preliminary foil activation measurements are also reviewed

RF DEMO ceramic helium cooled blanket, coolant and energy transformation systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovalenko, V.; Leshukov, A.; Poliksha, V.; Popov, A.; Strebkov, Yu.; Borisov, A.; Shatalov, G.; Demidov, V.; Kapyshev, V.

2004-01-01

RF DEMO-S reactor is a prototype of commercial fusion reactors for further generation. A blanket is the main element unit of the reactor design. The segment structure is the basis of the ceramic blanket. The segments mounting/dismounting operations are carried out through the vacuum vessel vertical port. The inboard/outboard blanket segment is the modules welded design, which are welded by back plate. The module contains the back plate, the first wall, lateral walls and breeding zone. The 9CrMoVNb steel is used as structural material. The module internal space formed by the first wall, lateral walls and back plate is used for breeding zone arrangement. The breeding zone design based upon the poloidal BIT (Breeder Inside Tube) concept. The beryllium is used as multiplier material and the lithium orthosilicate is used as breeder material. The helium at 0.1 MPa is used as purge gas. The cooling is provided by helium at 10 MPa. The coolant supply/return to the blanket modules are carrying out on the two independent circuits. The performed investigations of possible transformation schemes of DEMO-S blanket heat power into the electricity allowed to make a conclusion about the preferable using of traditional steam-turbine facility in the secondary circuit. (author)

Evaluation of the breed/burn fast reactor concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Atefi, B.; Driscoll, M.J.; Lanning, D.D.

1979-12-01

A core design concept and fuel management strategy, designated breed/burn, has been evaluated for heterogeneous fast breeder reactors. In this concept internal blanket assemblies after fissile material is bred in over several incore cycles, are shuffled into a moderated radial blanket and/or central island. The most promising materials combination identified used thorium in the internal blankets (due to the superior performance of epithermal Th-U233 systems) and zirconium hydride (ZrH 16 ) as the moderator

Conceptual design and testing strategy of a dual functional lithium-lead test blanket module in ITER and EAST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Y.

2007-01-01

A dual functional lithium-lead (DFLL) test blanket module (TBM) concept has been proposed for testing in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) in China to demonstrate the technologies of the liquid lithium-lead breeder blankets with emphasis on the balance between the risks and the potential attractiveness of blanket technology development. The design of DFLL-TBM concept has the flexibility of testing both the helium-cooled quasi-static lithium-lead (SLL) blanket concept and the He/PbLi dual-cooled lithium-lead (DLL) blanket concept. This paper presents an effective testing strategy proposed to achieve the testing target of SLL and DLL DEMO blankets relevant conditions, which includes three parts: materials R and D and small-scale out-of-pile mockups testing in loops, middle-scale TBMs pre-testing in EAST and full-scale consecutive TBMs testing corresponding to different operation phases of ITER during the first 10 years. The design of the DFLL-TBM concept and the testing strategy ability to test TBMs for both blanket concepts in sequence and or in parallel for both ITER and EAST are discussed

Activation analysis and waste management for dual-cooled lithium lead breeder (DLL) blanket of the fusion power reactor FDS-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Mingliang; Huang Qunying; Li Jingjing; Zeng Qin; Wu Yican

2005-01-01

The calculation and analysis on the activation levels of the different regions of dual-cooled lithium-lead (DLL) breeder blanket of FDS-II, including afterheat, dose rate, activity and biological hazard potential after shutdown, were carried out with the neutronics code system VisualBUS and multi-group working library HENDL1.0/MG. The safety and environment assessment of fusion power (SEAFP) strategy for the management of activated material is here applied to the DLL blanket, to define the suitable recycling (reuse of activated material) procedure and the possibility of clearance (declassification of the material with low activity level to non-active waste). (authors)

Recent progress in safety assessments of Japanese water cooled solid breeder test blanket module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsuru, Daigo; Enoeda, Mikio; Akiba, Masato

2007-01-01

Water Cooled Solid Breeder Test Blanket Module (WCSB TBM) is being designed by JAEA for the primary candidate TBM of Japan, and the safety evaluation of WCSB TBM has been performed. This reports presents summary of safety evaluation activities of the Japanese WCSB TBM, including nuclear analysis, source of RI, waste evaluation, occupational radiolysis exposure (ORE), failure mode effect analysis (FMEA) and postulated initiating event (PIE). For the purpose of basic evaluation of source terms on nuclear heating and radioactivity generation, two-dimensional nuclear analysis has been carried out. By the nuclear analysis, distributions of neutron flux, tritium breeding ratio (TBR), nuclear heat, decay heat and induced activity are calculated. Tritium production is calculated by the nuclear analysis by integrating distributions of TBR values, as about 0.2 g-T/FPD. With respect to the radioactive waste, the induced activity of the irradiated TBM is estimated. For the purpose of occupational radiolysis exposure (ORE), RI inventory is estimated. Tritium inventory in pebble bed of TBM is about 3 x 10 12 Bq, and tritium in purge gas is about 3 x 10 11 Bq. FMEA has been carried out to identify the PIEs that need safety evaluation. PIEs are summarized into three groups, i.e., heating, pressurization and release of RI. PIEs of local heating are converged without any special cares. With respect to heating of whole module, two PIEs are selected as the most severe events, i.e., loss of cooling of TBM during plasma operation and ingress of coolant into TBM during plasma operation. With respect to PIEs about pressurization, the PIEs of pressurization of the compartment nearby the pipes of cooling system are evaluated, because rupture of the pipes result pressurization of such compartments, i.e., box structure of TBM, purge gas loop, TRS, VV, port cell and TCWS vault. Box structure of TBM is designed to withstand the maximum pressure of the cooling system. At other compartments

Study on the thorium-based breeder with molten fluoride salt blanket in the Nuclear Hot Spring - 5420

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bing, X.; Yingzhong, L.

2015-01-01

Nuclear Hot Spring (NHS) is an innovative reactor type featured by pool-type molten-salt-cooled pebble-bed reactor core with the capability of natural circulation under full power operation. Except for the potential applications in power generation and high temperature process heat, thorium-based breeding is also a promising feature of the NHS. In order to take advantage of both the highly inherent safety and the on-line processing capability of fluid thorium-based fuels, a breeder design of NHS equipped with a blanket of molten salt with thorium fluoride outside the pebble-bed core is proposed in this work. For the purpose of keeping cleanness of the primary loop and blanket loop, both loops are isolated physically from each other, and the rapid on-line extraction of converted 233 Pa and 233 U is employed for the processing of blanket salt. The conversion ratio, defined as the ratio of converted 233 Pa and 233 U to the consumed fissile uranium in seed fuels, is investigated by varying the relevant parameters such as the circulation flux of blanket salt and the discharge burn-up of seed fuels. It is found that breeding can be achieved for the pure 233 U seed scheme with relatively low discharge burn-up and low blanket salt flux. However, the reprocessing for the HTGR fuels with TRISO particles has to be taken into account to ensure the breeding. (authors)

Lithium mass transport in ceramic breeder materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blackburn, P.E.; Johnson, C.E.

1990-01-01

The objective of this activity is to measure the lithium vaporization from lithium oxide breeder material under differing temperature and moisture partial pressure conditions. Lithium ceramics are being investigated for use as tritium breeding materials. The lithium is readily converted to tritium after reacting with a neutron. With the addition of 1000 ppM H 2 to the He purge gas, the bred tritium is readily recovered from the blanket as HT and HTO above 400 degree C. Within the solid, tritium may also be found as LiOT which may transport lithium to cooler parts of the blanket. The pressure of LiOT(g), HTO(g), or T 2 O(g) above Li 2 O(s) is the same as that for reactions involving hydrogen. In our experiments we were limited to the use of hydrogen. The purpose of this work is to investigate the transport of LiOH(g) from the blanket material. 8 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

Liquid metal magnetohydrodynamic flows in manifolds of dual coolant lead lithium blankets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mistrangelo, C., E-mail: chiara.mistrangelo@kit.edu; Bühler, L.

2014-10-15

Highlights: • MHD flows in model geometries of DCLL blanket manifolds. • Study of velocity, pressure distributions and flow partitioning in parallel ducts. • Flow partitioning affected by 3D MHD pressure drop and velocity distribution in the expanding zone. • Reduced pressure drop in a continuous expansion compared to a sudden expansion. - Abstract: An attractive blanket concept for a fusion reactor is the dual coolant lead lithium (DCLL) blanket where reduced activation steel is used as structural material and a lead lithium alloy serves both to produce tritium and to remove the heat in the breeder zone. Helium is employed to cool the first wall and the blanket structure. Some critical issues for the feasibility of this blanket concept are related to complex induced electric currents and 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) phenomena that occur in distributing and collecting liquid metal manifolds. They can result in large pressure drop and undesirable flow imbalance in parallel poloidal ducts forming blanket modules. In the present paper liquid metal MHD flows are studied for different design options of a DCLL blanket manifold with the aim of identifying possible sources of flow imbalance and to predict velocity and pressure distributions.

Cost study of the ESPRESSO blanket for a Tandem Mirror Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raffray, A.R.; Hoffman, M.A.; Gaskins, T.

1986-02-01

A detailed cost study of the ESPRESSO blanket concept for the Tandem Mirror Fusion Reactor (TMR) has been performed to complement the thermal-hydraulic parametric study and to help narrow down the choice of parameters for the final design. The ESPRESSO blanket consists of a number of structurally independent ring modules. Each ring module is made up of a number of mutually pressure-supporting canisters containing arrays of breeder tubes. Two separate helium coolant flows are used: a main flow to cool the tube bank and a cooler first wall flow

Blanket for thermonuclear device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozawa, Yoshihiro; Uda, Tatsuhiko; Maki, Koichi.

1993-01-01

The present invention provides a blanket of a thermonuclear device which produces tritium fuels consumed in plasmas while converting neutrons generated in the plasmas into heat energy. That is, zirconium is coated to at least one of neutron breeder pebbles and breeder pebbles, to suppress reaction between them by being in direct contact with each other at a high temperature. Further, fins are attached to a cooling pipe at a pitch smaller than the diameter of both of the pebbles, to prevent direct contact at whole surface of the pebbles and the cooling pipe, which would lower a temperature excessively. The length of the fin is controlled to control the thickness of a helium gas gap. With such constitution, direct contact of neutron breeder pebbles and the breeder pebble which are to be filled and mixed, and tend to react at a high temperature, can be prevented. The temperature of the breeding blanket is reliably prevented from lowering below a tritium emitting temperature. The structure is simplified and the production is facilitated. (I.S.)

Tritium inventory in Li2ZrO3 blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishikawa, M.; Baba, A.

1998-01-01

Recently, we have presented the way to estimate the tritium inventory in a solid breeder blanket considering effects of diffusion of tritium in the grain, absorption of water in the bulk of grain, and adsorption of water on the surface of grain, together with two types of isotope exchange reactions. It is reported in our previous paper that the estimated tritium inventory for a LiAlO 2 blanket agrees well with data observed in various in situ experiments when the effective diffusivity of tritium from the EXOTIC-6 experiment is used and that the better agreement is obtained when existence of some water vapor is assumed in the purge gas. The same way as used for a LiAlO 2 blanket is applied to a Li 2 ZrO 3 blanket in this study and the estimated tritium inventory shows a good agreement with data obtained in such in situ experiments as MOZART, EXOTIC-6 and TRINE experiments. (orig.)

Updated conceptual design of helium cooling ceramic blanket for HCCB-DEMO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Suhao [University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui (China); Southwestern Institute of Physics, Chengdu, Sichuan (China); Cao, Qixiang; Wu, Xinghua; Wang, Xiaoyu; Zhang, Guoshu [Southwestern Institute of Physics, Chengdu, Sichuan (China); Feng, Kaiming, E-mail: fengkm@swip.ac.cn [Southwestern Institute of Physics, Chengdu, Sichuan (China)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • An updated design of Helium Cooled Ceramic breeder Blanket (HCCB) for HCCB-DEMO is proposed in this paper. • The Breeder Unit is transformed to TBM-like sub-modules, with double “banana” shape tritium breeder. Each sub-module is inserted in space formed by Stiffen Grids (SGs). • The performance analysis is performed based on the R&D development of material, fabrication technology and safety assessment in CN ITER TBM program. • Hot spots will be located at the FW bend side. - Abstract: The basic definition of the HCCB-DEMO plant and preliminary blanket designed by Southwestern Institution of Physics was proposed in 2009. The DEMO fusion power is 2550 MW and electric power is 800 MW. Based on development of R&D in breeding blanket, a conceptual design of helium cooled blanket with ceramic breeder in HCCB-DEMO was presented. The main design features of the HCCB-DEMO blanket were: (1) CLF-1 structure materials, Be multiplier and Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} breeder; (2) neutronic wall load is 2.3 MW/m{sup 2} and surface heat flux is 0.43 MW/m{sup 2} (2) TBR ≈ 1.15; (3) geometry of breeding units is ITER TBM-like segmentation; (4)Pressure of helium is 8 MPa and inlet/outlet temperature is 300/500 °C. On the basis of these design, some important analytical results are presented in aspects of (i) neutronic behavior of the blanket; (ii) design of 3D structure and thermal-hydraulic lay-out for breeding blanket module; (iii) structural-mechanical behavior of the blanket under pressurization. All of these assessments proved current stucture fulfill the design requirements.

Stress analysis of the tokamak engineering test breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Zhongqi

1992-01-01

The design features of the hybrid reactor blanket and main parameters are presented. The stress analysis is performed by using computer codes SAP5p and SAP6 with the three kinds of blanket module loadings, i.e, the pressure of coolant, the blanket weight and the thermal loading. Numerical calculation results indicate that the stresses of the blanket are smaller than the allowable ones of the material, the blanket design is therefore reasonable

Particle flow of ceramic breeder pebble beds in bi-axial compression experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermsmeyer, S.; Reimann, J.

2002-01-01

Pebble beds of ceramic material are investigated within the framework of developing solid breeder blankets for future fusion power plants. A thermo-mechanical characterisation of such pebble beds is mandatory for understanding the behaviour of pebble beds, and thus the overall blanket, under fusion environment conditions. The mechanical behaviour of pebble beds is typically explored with uni-axial, bi-axial and tri-axial compression experiments. The latter two types of experiment are particularly revealing since they contain explicitly, beyond a compression behaviour of the bed, information on the conditions for pebble flow, i.e. macroscopic relocation, in the pebble bed. (orig.)

Mechanical design

Science.gov (United States)

1976-01-01

Design concepts for a 1000 mw thermal stationary power plant employing the UF6 fueled gas core breeder reactor are examined. Three design combinations-gaseous UF6 core with a solid matrix blanket, gaseous UF6 core with a liquid blanket, and gaseous UF6 core with a circulating blanket were considered. Results show the gaseous UF6 core with a circulating blanket was best suited to the power plant concept.

Analysis of in-situ tritium recovery from solid fusion-reactor blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.; Clemmer, R.G.; Jankus, V.Z.; Rest, J.

1980-01-01

The proposed concept for in-situ tritium recovery from the STARFIRE blanket involves circulation of a low pressure (approx. 0.05 MPa) helium through formed channels in the highly porous solid breeding material. Tritium generated within the grains must diffuse to the grain boundaries, migrate through the grain boundaries to the particle surface and then percolate through the packed bed to the helium purge channel. Highly porous α-LiAlO 2 with a bimodal pore distribution is proposed for the breeding material to facilitate the tritium release

Advancement in tritium transport simulations for solid breeding blanket system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ying, Alice, E-mail: ying@fusion.ucla.edu [Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Zhang, Hongjie [Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States); Merrill, Brad J. [Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID 83415 (United States); Ahn, Mu-Young [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-01

In this paper, advancement on tritium transport simulations was demonstrated for a solid breeder blanket HCCR TBS, where multi-physics and detailed engineering descriptions are considered using a commercial simulation code. The physics involved includes compressible purge gas fluid flow, heat transfer, chemical reaction, isotope swamping effect, and tritium isotopes mass transport. The strategy adopted here is to develop numerical procedures and techniques that allow critical details of material, geometric and operational heterogeneity in a most complete engineering description of the TBS being incorporated into the simulation. Our application focuses on the transient assessment in view of ITER being pulsed operations. An immediate advantage is a more realistic predictive and design analysis tool accounting pulsed operations induced temperature variations which impact helium purge gas flow as well as Q{sub 2} composition concentration time and space evolutions in the breeding regions. This affords a more accurate prediction of tritium permeation into the He coolant by accounting correct temperature and partial pressure effects and realistic diffusion paths. The analysis also shows that by introducing by-pass line to accommodate ITER pulsed operations in the TES loop allows tritium extraction design being more cost effective.

Studies on steps affecting tritium residence time in solid blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, Satoru

1987-01-01

For the self sustaining of CTR fuel cycle, the effective tritium recovery from blankets is essential. This means that not only tritium breeding ratio must be larger than 1.0, but also high recovering speed is required for the short residence time of tritium in blankets. Short residence time means that the tritium inventory in blankets is small. In this paper, the tritium residence time and tritium inventory in a solid blanket are modeled by considering the steps constituting tritium release. Some of these tritium migration processes were experimentally evaluated. The tritium migration steps in a solid blanket using sintered breeding materials consist of diffusion in grains, desorption at grain edges, diffusion and permeation through grain boundaries, desorption at particle edges, diffusion and percolation through interconnected pores to purging stream, and convective mass transfer to stream. Corresponding to these steps, diffusive, soluble, adsorbed and trapped tritium inventories and the tritium in gas phase are conceivable. The code named TTT was made for calculating these tritium inventories and the residence time of tritium. An example of the results of calculation is shown. The blanket is REPUTER-1, which is the conceptual design of a commercial reversed field pinch fusion reactor studied at the University of Tokyo. The experimental studies on the migration steps of tritium are reported. (Kako, I.)

Deterministic 3D transport, sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of TPR and reaction rate measurements in HCPB Breeder Blanket mock-up benchmark

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kodeli, I.

2006-01-01

The Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) Breeder Blanket mock-up benchmark experiment was analysed using the deterministic transport, sensitivity and uncertainty code system in order to determine the Tritium Production Rate (TPR) in the ceramic breeder and the neutron reaction rates in beryllium, both nominal values and the corresponding uncertainties. The experiment, performed in 2005 to validate the HCPB concept, consists of a metallic beryllium set-up with two double layers of breeder material (Li 2 CO 3 powder). The reaction rate measurements include the Li 2 CO 3 pellets for the tritium breeding monitoring and activation foils, inserted at several axial and lateral locations in the block. In addition to the well established and validated procedure based on the 2-dimensional (2D) code DORT, a new approach for the 3D modelling was validated based on the TORT/GRTUNCL3D transport codes. The SUSD3D code, also in 3D geometry, was used for the cross-section sensitivity and uncertainty calculations. These studies are useful for the interpretation of the experimental measurements, in particular to assess the uncertainties linked to the basic nuclear data. The TPR, the neutron activation rates and the associated uncertainties were determined using the EFF-3.0 9 Be nuclear cross section and covariance data, and compared with those from other evaluations, like FENDL-2.1. Sensitivity profiles and nuclear data uncertainties of the TPR and detector reaction rates with respect to the cross-sections of 9 Be, 6 Li, 7 Li, O and C were determined at different positions in the experimental block. (author)

Blanket handling concepts for future fusion power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bogusch, E.; Gottfried, R.; Maisonnier, D.

2003-01-01

In the frame of the power plant conceptual studies (PPCS) launched by the European Commission, two main blanket handling concepts have been investigated with respect to engineering feasibility and the impact on the plant availability and on cost: the large module handling concept (LMHC) and the large sector handling concept (LSHC). The LMHC has been considered as the reference handling concept while the LSHC has been considered as an attractive alternative to the LMHC due to its potential of smaller replacement times and hence increasing the plant availability. Although no principle feasibility issue has been identified, a number of engineering issues have been highlighted for the LSHC that would require considerable efforts for their resolution. Since its availability of about 77% based on a replacement time for all the internals of about 4.2 months is slightly lower than for the LMHC, the LMHC remains the reference blanket replacement concept for a conceptual reactor

Progress in tritium retention and release modeling for ceramic breeders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raffray, A.R.; Federici, G.; Billone, M.C.; Tanaka, S.

1994-01-01

Tritium behavior in ceramic breeder blankets is a key design issue for this class of blanket because of its impact on safety and fuel self-sufficiency. Over the past 10-15 years, substantial theoretical and experimental efforts have been dedicated world-wide to develop a better understanding of tritium transport in ceramic breeders. Models that are available today seem to cover reasonably well all the key physical transport and trapping mechanisms. They have allowed for reasonable interpretation and reproduction of experimental data and have helped in pointing out deficiencies in material property data base, in providing guidance for future experiments, and in analyzing blanket tritium behavior. This paper highlights the progress in tritium modeling over the last decade. Key tritium transport mechanisms are briefly described along with the more recent and sophisticated models developed to help understand them. Recent experimental data are highlighted and model calibration and validation discussed. Finally, example applications to blanket cases are shown as illustration of progress in the prediction of ceramic breeder blanket tritium inventory

Symbiosis of near breeder HTR's with hybrid fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seifritz, W.

1978-07-01

In this contribution to INFCE a symbiotic fusion/fission reactor system, consisting of a hybrid beam-driven micro-explosion fusion reactor (HMER) and associated high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTR) with a coupled fuel cycle, is proposed. This system is similar to the well known Fast Breeder/Near Breeder HTR symbiosis except that the fast fission breeder - running on the U/Pu-cycle in the core and the axial blankets and breeding the surplus fissile material as U-233 in its radial thorium metal or thorium oxide blankets - is replaced by a hybrid micro-explosion DT fusion reactor

Fusion breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moir, R.W.

1982-01-01

The fusion breeder is a fusion reactor designed with special blankets to maximize the transmutation by 14 MeV neutrons of uranium-238 to plutonium or thorium to uranium-233 for use as a fuel for fission reactors. Breeding fissile fuels has not been a goal of the US fusion energy program. This paper suggests it is time for a policy change to make the fusion breeder a goal of the US fusion program and the US nuclear energy program. The purpose of this paper is to suggest this policy change be made and tell why it should be made, and to outline specific research and development goals so that the fusion breeder will be developed in time to meet fissile fuel needs

Method for cooling a breeder reactor and breeder reactor for applying the method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gast, K.

1977-01-01

The fuel assemblies of the fission zone and the breeder subassemblies in the radial breeding blanket are supported on a double bottom. The coolant gets into the interspace of the double bottom below the blanket. This part of the space is separated from the interspace of the double bottom below the fission zone. Each breeder subassembly consists of a twin tube. The coolant enters the inner tube, flows through it upwards in axial direction, is then deflected on the upper end, and afterwards, in the annulus of the twin tube, flows down again in axial direction into the inlet region, below the double bottom. From there on it flows upwards through the fuel assemblies of the fission zone from below. Thereby a uniformly high coolant outlet temperature is obtained. (DG) [de

Methods to enhance blanket power density

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsu, P.Y.; Miller, L.G.; Bohn, T.S.; Deis, G.A.; Longhurst, G.R.; Masson, L.S.; Wessol, D.E.; Abdou, M.A.

1982-06-01

The overall objective of this task is to investigate the extent to which the power density in the FED/INTOR breeder blanket test modules can be enhanced by artificial means. Assuming a viable approach can be developed, it will allow advanced reactor blanket modules to be tested on FED/INTOR under representative conditions

Accelerator breeder concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartholomew, G.A.; Fraser, J.S.; Garvey, P.M.

1978-10-01

The principal components and functions of an accelerator breeder are described. The role of the accelerator breeder as a possible long-term fissile production support facility for CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) thorium advanced fuel cycles and the Canadian research and development program leading to such a facility are outlined. (author)

A new combination of membranes and membrane reactors for improved tritium management in breeder blanket of fusion machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demange, D.; Staemmler, S.; Kind, M.

2011-01-01

Tritium used as fuel in future fusion machines will be produced within the breeder blanket. The tritium extraction system recovers the tritium to be routed into the inner-fuel cycle of the machine. Accurate and precise tritium accountancy between both systems is mandatory to ensure a reliable operation. Handling in the blanket huge helium flow rates containing tritium as traces in molecular and oxide forms is challenging both for the process and the accountancy. Alternative tritium processes based on combinations of membranes and membrane reactors are proposed to facilitate the tritium management. The PERMCAT process is based on counter-current isotope swamping in a palladium membrane reactor. It allows recovering tritium efficiently from any chemical species. It produces a pure hydrogen stream enriched in tritium of advantage for integration upstream of the accountancy stage. A pre-separation and pre-concentration stage using new zeolite membranes has been studied to optimize the whole process. Such a combination could improve the tritium processes and facilitate accountancy in DEMO.

Water-cooled lithium-lead box-shaped blanket concept for Demo: thermo-mechanical optimization and manufacturing sequence proposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baraer, L.; Dinot, N.; Giancarli, L.; Proust, E.; Salavy, J.F.; Severi, Y.; Quintric-Bossy, J.

1992-01-01

The development of the water-cooled lithium-lead box-shaped blanket concept for DEMO has now reached the stage of thermo-mechanical optimization. In the previous design phases the preliminary dimensioning of the cooling circuit has permitted to define the water proportions required in the breeder region and to demonstrate, after a minimization of steel proportion and thicknesses, that this concept could reach tritium breeding self-sufficiency. In the present analysis the location of the coolant pipes has been optimized for the whole equatorial plane cross-section of both inboard and outboard segments in order to maintain the maximum Pb-17Li/steel interface temperature below 480 deg C and to minimize the thermal gradients along the steel structures. The consequent thermo-mechanical analysis has shown that the thermal stresses always remain below the allowable limits. Segment fabricability and removal are the next design issues to be analyzed. Within this strategy, a first manufactury sequence for the outboard segment is proposed

Thermal conductivities for sintered and sphere-pac Li2O and γ-LiAlO2 solid breeders with and without irradiation effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Y.Y.; Tam, S.W.

1984-07-01

Thermal conductivities (k, k/sub eff/) have been estimated for sintered and sphere-pac Li 2 O and γ-LiAlO 2 with and without neutron irradiation effects. The estimation is based on (1) data from unirradiated UO 2 , Li 2 O, and γ-LiAlO 2 ; (2) data from irradiated dielectric insulator materials; and (3) relatively simple physical models. Comparison of model predictions with limited ex- and in-reactor data found reasonable agreement, thus lending credence for their use in design applications. The impact of thermal conductivities on tritium breeding and power generation in fusion solid-breeder blankets is briefly highlighted

Molten salt cooling/17Li-83Pb breeding blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sze, D.K.; Cheng, E.T.

1985-02-01

A description of a fusion breeding blanket concept using draw salt coolant and static 17 Li- 83 Pb is presented. 17 Li- 83 Pb has high breeding capability and low tritium solubility. Draw salt operates at low pressure and is inert to water. Corrosion, MHD, and tritium containment problems associated with the MARS design are alleviated because of the use of a static LiPb blanket. Blanket tritium recovery is by permeation toward the plasma. A direct contact steam generator is proposed to eliminate some generic problems associated with a tube shell steam generator

Prospects of the aqueous self-cooled blanket concept for NET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snykers, M.; Bruggeman, A.; Bogaerts, W.F.; Embrechts, M.J.; Steiner, D.; Daenner, W.

1989-01-01

A low-technology Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket (ASCB) concept has been proposed for the Next European Torus (NET). This concept relies on structural material and cooling water, with small amounts of lithium compounds for tritium production. Following preliminary investigations, LiOH, LiNO 3 , LiNO 2 and Li 2 SO 4 are currently under consideration as tritium breeding materials in solution. The concept may benefit from the proven technologies from the PWRs and from the CANDU tritium extraction systems. It combines good shielding and breeding capabilities. It would serve as a reliable environment for experimenting with several DEMOnstration reactor-relevant blanket modules in NET. Since net tritium breeding is not a design requirement for NET, sufficient tritium breeding can be obtained without the application of external neutron multipliers if enrichment in 6 Li is utilized. For a DEMOnstration reactor ASCB-based blanket, neutron multipliers have to be incorporated and temperature and pressure have to be increased. Radiolysis and corrosion aspects are of particular concern and need further investigation. (orig.)

Normal operation and maintenance safety lessons from the ITER US PbLi test blanket module program for a US FNSF and DEMO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Merrill, B.J., E-mail: Brad.Merrill@inl.gov [Fusion Safety Program, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Wong, C.P.C. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA 92186-5608 (United States); Cadwallader, L.C. [Fusion Safety Program, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Abdou, M.; Morley, N.B. [University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1597 (United States)

2014-10-15

A leading power reactor breeding blanket candidate for a fusion demonstration power plant (DEMO) being pursued by the US Fusion Community is the Dual Coolant Lead Lithium (DCLL) concept. The safety hazards associated with the DCLL concept as a reactor blanket have been examined in several US design studies. These studies identify the largest radiological hazards as those associated with the dust generation by plasma erosion of plasma blanket module first walls, oxidation of blanket structures at high temperature in air or steam, inventories of tritium bred in or permeating through the ferritic steel structures of the blanket module and blanket support systems, and the {sup 210}Po and {sup 203}Hg produced in the PbLi breeder/coolant. What these studies lack is the scrutiny associated with a licensing review of the DCLL concept. An insight into this process was gained during the US participation in the ITER Test Blanket Module (TBM) Program. In this paper we discuss the lessons learned during this activity and make safety proposals for the design of a Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) or a DEMO that employs a lead lithium breeding blanket.

Tritium transport modeling at system level for the EUROfusion dual coolant lithium-lead breeding blanket

Science.gov (United States)

Urgorri, F. R.; Moreno, C.; Carella, E.; Rapisarda, D.; Fernández-Berceruelo, I.; Palermo, I.; Ibarra, A.

2017-11-01

The dual coolant lithium lead (DCLL) breeding blanket is one of the four breeder blanket concepts under consideration within the framework of EUROfusion consortium activities. The aim of this work is to develop a model that can dynamically track tritium concentrations and fluxes along each part of the DCLL blanket and the ancillary systems associated to it at any time. Because of tritium nature, the phenomena of diffusion, dissociation, recombination and solubilisation have been modeled in order to describe the interaction between the lead-lithium channels, the structural material, the flow channel inserts and the helium channels that are present in the breeding blanket. Results have been obtained for a pulsed generation scenario for DEMO. The tritium inventory in different parts of the blanket, the permeation rates from the breeder to the secondary coolant and the amount of tritium extracted from the lead-lithium loop have been computed. Results present an oscillating behavior around mean values. The obtained average permeation rate from the liquid metal to the helium is 1.66 mg h-1 while the mean tritium inventory in the whole system is 417 mg. Besides the reference case results, parametric studies of the lead-lithium mass flow rate, the tritium extraction efficiency and the tritium solubility in lead-lithium have been performed showing the reaction of the system to the variation of these parameters.

Radiolysis and corrosion aspects of the aqueous self-cooled blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruggeman, A.; Snykers, M.; Bogaerts, W.F.; Waeben, R.; Embrechts, M.J.; Steiner, D.

1989-01-01

Corrosion and radiolysis aspects of the Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket concept, proposed as a potential shielding breeding blanket for near term fusion devices and fusion reactors, have been investigated. On the basis of preliminary results for selected aqueous solutions of lithium compounds, no particular corrosion problems have been revealed for the low-temperature concept envisaged for NET and radiolysis effects might be controlled by appropriate countermeasures. For the reactor-relevant high-temperature concept particular attention has to be paid to intergranular stress-corrosion and to the synergistic radiolysis-corrosion effects. Further information is needed from tests performed in relevant operational conditions. (orig.)

Integration of test modules in the main blanket and vacuum vessel design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakahira, Masataka; Kurasawa, Toshimasa; Sato, Satoshi; Furuya, Kazuyuki; Togami, Ikuhide; Hashimoto, Toshiyuki; Takatsu, Hideyuki; Kuroda, Toshimasa.

1995-07-01

Typical test modules for water-cooled and helium-cooled ceramic breeder blankets have been designed, and their major design parameters are summarized. Among various candidates studied in Japan at present, BOT (Breeder Out of Tube) type of blanket is exemplified here. The integration scheme of the test module into ITER basic machine is also shown. Even with other type of blanket, the integration scheme won't be affected. The composition and space requirement of cooling and tritium recovery systems for the test module have also been studied. (author)

Breeding blankets for thermonuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rocaboy, Alain.

1982-06-01

Materials with structures suitable for this purpose are studied. A bibliographic review of the main solid and liquid lithiated compounds is then presented. Erosion, dimensioning and maintenance problems associated with the limiter and the first wall of the reactor are studied from the point of view of the constraints they impose on the design of the blankets. Detailed studies of the main solid and liquid blanket concepts enable the best technological compromises to be determined for the indispensable functions of the blanket to be assured under acceptable conditions. Our analysis leads to four classes of solution, which cannot at this stage be considered as final recommendations, but which indicate what sort of solutions it is worthwhile exploring and comparing in order to be in a position to suggest a realistic blanket at the time when plasma control is sufficiently good for power reactors to be envisaged. Some considerations on the general architecture of the reactor are indicated. Energy storage with pulsed reactors is discussed in the appendix, and a first approach made to minimizing the total tritium recovery [fr

Assessment of the accident response of a light-water-moderated breeder-reactor system: AWBA development program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

High, H.M.

1983-05-01

The predicted accident response for a light water moderated, thorium/U-233 fueled, seed-blanket reactor concept was assessed. The first part of the assessment compared breeder accident response with that of a current commercial pressurized water reactor design for several different types of transients. Based on these comparisons and a review of the various parameter differences between the breeder and a U-235 fueled plant, the second part of the assessment studied the breeder accident behavior in more detail, particularly in areas of potential concern. Based on the two parts of the assessment, it was concluded that the breeder accident response would be very similar to that of present commercial pressurized water reactor plants. The large Doppler and moderator reactivity coefficients of the breeder would significantly reduce the severity of many of the accidents that must be considered. It is expected that the accident response of the breeder can be shown to meet regulatory criteria

Application of discrete element method to study mechanical behaviors of ceramic breeder pebble beds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

An Zhiyong; Ying, Alice; Abdou, Mohamed

2007-01-01

In this paper, the discrete element method (DEM) approach has been applied to study mechanical behaviors of ceramic breeder pebble beds. Directly simulating the contact state of each individual particle by the physically based interaction laws, the DEM numerical program is capable of predicting the mechanical behaviors of non-standard packing structures. The program can also provide the data to trace the evolution of contact characteristics and forces as deformation proceeds, as well as the particle movement when the pebble bed is subjected to external loadings. Our numerical simulations focus on predicting the mechanical behaviors of ceramic breeder pebble beds, which include typical fusion breeder materials in solid breeder blankets. Current numerical results clearly show that the packing density and the bed geometry can have an impact on the mechanical stiffness of the pebble beds. Statistical data show that the contact forces are highly related to the contact status of the pebbles

Concept of a demonstrational hybrid reactor—a tokamak with molten-salt blanket for {sup 233}U fuel production: 1. Concept of a stationary Tokamak as a neutron source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Azizov, E. A.; Gladush, G. G., E-mail: gladush@triniti.ru; Dokuka, V. N.; Khayrutdinov, R. R. [State Research Center of the Russian Federation, Troitsk Institute for Innovation and Fusion Research (Russian Federation)

2015-12-15

On the basis of current understanding of physical processes in tokamaks and taking into account engineering constraints, it is shown that a low-cost facility of a moderate size can be designed within the adopted concept. This facility makes it possible to achieve the power density of neutron flux which is of interest, in particular, for solving the problem of {sup 233}U fuel production from thorium. By using a molten-salt blanket, the important task of ensuring the safe operation of such a reactor in the case of possible coolant loss is accomplished. Moreover, in a hybrid reactor with the blanket based on liquid salts, the problem of periodic refueling that is difficult to perform in solid blankets can be solved.

Present status of the Liquid Breeder Validation Module for IFMIF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casal, Natalia; Mas, Avelino; Mota, Fernando; García, Ángela; Rapisarda, David; Nomen, Oriol; Arroyo, Jose Manuel; Abal, Javier; Mollá, Joaquín; Ibarra, Ángel

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The LBVM will be used to perform irradiation experiments on functional materials for fusion reactors. • It houses 16 experimental rigs, each one containing a EUROFER capsule partially filled with lithium lead, at 300–550 °C. • A helium purge gas will sweep the tritium permeated through the capsule walls to a tritium measuring station. • A helium cooling system will keep tritium diffusion within safe margins and guarantee its mechanical integrity. • Thermal hydraulic and mechanical calculations, the module instrumentation and aspects as safety or RAMI are presented. -- Abstract: One of the objectives of IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility), as stated in its specifications, is the validation of breeder blanket concepts for DEMO design. The so-called Liquid Breeder Validation Module (LBVM) will be used in IFMIF to perform experiments under irradiation on functional materials related to liquid breeder concepts for future fusion reactors. This module, not considered in previous IFMIF design phases, is currently under design by CIEMAT in the framework of the IFMIF/EVEDA project. In this paper, the present status of the design of the LBVM is presented

Present status of the Liquid Breeder Validation Module for IFMIF

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casal, Natalia, E-mail: natalia.casal@ciemat.es [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión por Confinamiento Magnético – CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Mas, Avelino; Mota, Fernando; García, Ángela; Rapisarda, David [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión por Confinamiento Magnético – CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Nomen, Oriol [Institut de Recerca en Energia de Catalunya (IREC), Barcelona (Spain); Centre de Disseny d’Equips Industrials (CDEI), Technical University of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona (Spain); Arroyo, Jose Manuel [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión por Confinamiento Magnético – CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Abal, Javier [Fusion Energy Engineering Laboratory (FEEL), Technical University of Catalonia (UPC) Barcelona-Tech, Barcelona (Spain); Mollá, Joaquín; Ibarra, Ángel [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión por Confinamiento Magnético – CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2013-10-15

Highlights: • The LBVM will be used to perform irradiation experiments on functional materials for fusion reactors. • It houses 16 experimental rigs, each one containing a EUROFER capsule partially filled with lithium lead, at 300–550 °C. • A helium purge gas will sweep the tritium permeated through the capsule walls to a tritium measuring station. • A helium cooling system will keep tritium diffusion within safe margins and guarantee its mechanical integrity. • Thermal hydraulic and mechanical calculations, the module instrumentation and aspects as safety or RAMI are presented. -- Abstract: One of the objectives of IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility), as stated in its specifications, is the validation of breeder blanket concepts for DEMO design. The so-called Liquid Breeder Validation Module (LBVM) will be used in IFMIF to perform experiments under irradiation on functional materials related to liquid breeder concepts for future fusion reactors. This module, not considered in previous IFMIF design phases, is currently under design by CIEMAT in the framework of the IFMIF/EVEDA project. In this paper, the present status of the design of the LBVM is presented.

Evaluation on the heat removal capacity of the first wall for water cooled breeder blanket of CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Kecheng, E-mail: jiangkecheng@ipp.ac.cn; Cheng, Xiaoman; Chen, Lei; Huang, Kai; Ma, Xuebin; Liu, Songlin

2016-02-15

Highlights: • Heat removal capacity of the FW is evaluated under BWR, PWR and He coolant inlet conditions. • Heat transfer property of the gas–liquid two phase and the two boiling crises are analyzed. • Heat removal capacity of water is larger than helium coolant. - Abstract: The water cooled ceramic breeder blanket (WCCB) is being researched for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). As an important component of the blanket, the FW should satisfy with the thermal requirements in any case. In this paper, three parameters including the heat removal capacity, coolant pressure drop as well as the temperature rise of the FW were investigated under different coolant velocity and heat flux from the plasma. Using the same first wall structure, two main water cooled schemes including Boiling Water Reactor (BWR, 7 MPa pressure and 265 °C temperature inlet) and Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR, 15 MPa pressure and 285 °C temperature inlet) conditions are discussed in the thermal hydraulic calculation. For further research, the thermal hydraulic characteristics of using helium as coolant (8 MPa pressure, 300 °C temperature inlet) are also explored to provide CFETR blanket design with more useful data supports. Without regard to the outlet coolant condition requirements of the blanket, the results indicate that the ultimate heat flux that the FW can resist is 2.2 MW/m{sup 2} at velocity of 5 m/s for BWR, 2.0 MW/m{sup 2} at velocity of 5 m/s for PWR and 0.87 MW/m{sup 2} for helium at velocity 100 m/s under the chosen operation condition. The detrimental departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) crisis would occur at the velocity of 1 m/s under the heat flux of 3 MW/m{sup 2} and dry out crisis appears at the velocity of less than 0.2 m/s with the heat flux of more than 1 MW/m{sup 2} for BWR. The further blanket/FW optimization design is provided with more useful data references according to the abundant calculation results.

Status of the solid breeder materials database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billone, M.C.; Dienst, W.; Lorenzetto, P.; Noda, K.; Roux, N.

1995-01-01

The databases for solid breeder ceramics (Li 2 O, Li 4 SiO 4 , Li 2 ZrO 3 , and LiAlO 2 ) and beryllium multiplier material were critically reviewed and evaluated as part of the ITER/CDA design effort (1988-1990). The results have been documented in a detailed technical report. Emphasis was placed on the physical, thermal, mechanical, chemical stability/compatibility, tritium retention/release, and radiation stability properties which are needed to assess the performance of these materials in a fusion reactor environment. Materials properties correlations were selected for use in design analysis, and ranges for input parameters (e.g., temperature, porosity, etc.) were established. Also, areas for future research and development in blanket materials technology were highlighted and prioritized. For Li 2 O, the most significant increase in the database has come in the area of tritium retention as a function of operating temperature and purge flow composition. The database for postirradiation inventory from purged in-reactor samples has increased from four points to 20 points. These new data have allowed an improvement in understanding and modeling, as well as better interpretation of the results of laboratory annealing studies on unirradiated and irradiated material. In the case of Li 2 ZrO 3 , relatively little data were available on the sensitivity of the mechanical properties of this ternary ceramic to microstructure and moisture content. The increase in the database for this material has allowed not only better characterization of its properties, but also optimization of fabrication parameters to improve its performance. Some additional data are also available for the other two ternary ceramics to aid in the characterization of their performance. In particular, the thermal performance of these materials, as well as beryllium, in packed-bed form has been measured and characterized

Helium-cooled pebble bed test blanket module alternative design and fabrication routes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lux, M.

2007-01-01

According to first results of the recently started European DEMO study, a new blanket integration philosophy was developed applying so-called multi-module segments. These consist of a number of blanket modules flexibly mounted onto a common vertical manifold structure that can be used for replacing all modules in one segment at one time through vertical remote-handling ports. This principle gives new freedom in the design choices applied to the blanket modules itself. Based on the alternative design options considered for DEMO also the ITER test blanket module was newly analyzed. As a result of these activities it was decided to keep the major principles of the reference design like stiffening grid, breeder unit concept and perpendicular arrangement of pebble beds related to the First Wall because of the very positive results of thermo-mechanical and neutronics studies. The present paper gives an overview on possible further design optimization and alternative fabrication routes. One of the most significant improvements in terms of the hydraulic performance of the Helium cooled reactor can be reached with a new First Wall concept. That concept is based on an internal heat transfer enhancement technique and allows drastically reducing the flow velocity in the FW cooling channels. Small ribs perpendicular to the flow direction (transverse-rib roughness) are arranged on the inner surface of the First Wall cooling channels at the plasma side. In the breeder units cooling plates which are mostly parallel but bent into U-shape at the plasma-side are considered. In this design all flow channels are parallel and straight with the flow entering on one side of the parallel plate sections and exiting on the other side. The ceramic pebble beds are embedded between two pairs of such type of cooling plates. Different modifications could possibly be combined, whereby the most relevant discussed in this paper are (i) rib-cooled First Wall channels, (ii) U-bent cooling plates for

Heat-pipe liquid-pool-blanket concept for the Tandem Mirror Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoffman, M.A.; Werner, R.W.; Johnson, G.L.

1981-01-01

The blanket concept for the tandem mirror reactor described in this paper was developed to produce the medium temperature heat (approx. 850 to 950 K) for the General Atomic sulfur-iodine thermochemical process for producing hydrogen. This medium temperature heat from the blanket constitutes about 81% of the total power output of the fusion reactor

Fluidized-bed design for ICF reactor blankets using solid-lithium compounds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sucov, E.W.; Malick, F.S.; Green, L.; Hall, B.O.

1983-01-01

A fluidized-bed concept for blankets of dry or wetted first-wall ICF reactors using solid-lithium compounds is described. The reaction chamber is a right cylinder, 32 m high and 20 m in diameter; the blanket is composed of 36 steel tanks, 32 m high, which carry the sintered Li 2 O particles in the fluidizing helium gas. Each tank has a radial thickness of 2 m which generates a tritium breeding ration (TBR) of 1.27 and absorbs over 98% of the neutron energy; reducing the thickness to 1.2 m produces a TBR of 1.2 and energy absorption of 97% which satisfy the design goals. Calculations of tritium diffusion through the grains and heat removal from the grains showed that neither could be removed by the carrier gas; tritium and heat are therefore removed by removing the grains themselves by varying the helium flow rate. The particles are continuously fed into the bottom of the tanks at 300 0 C and removed at the top at 475 0 C. Tritium and heat extraction are easily and conveniently done outside the reactor

Surface condition effects on tritium permeation through the first wall of a water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, H.-S. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China); Xu, Y.-P.; Liu, H.-D. [Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science and Technology of China, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China); Liu, F.; Li, X.-C.; Zhao, M.-Z.; Qi, Q.; Ding, F. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China); Luo, G.-N., E-mail: gnluo@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China); Science Island Branch of Graduate School, University of Science and Technology of China, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China); Hefei Center for Physical Science and Technology, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China); Hefei Science Center of Chinese Academy of Science, P.O. Box 1126, Hefei (China)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • We investigate surface effects on T transport through the first wall. • We solve transport equations with various surface conditions. • The RAFMs walls w/and w/o W exhibit different T permeation behavior. • Diffusion in W has been found to be the rate-limiting step. - Abstract: Plasma-driven permeation of tritium (T) through the first wall of a water-cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket may raise safety and other issues. In the present work, surface effects on T transport through the first wall of a WCCB blanket have been investigated by theoretical calculation. Two types of wall structures, i.e., reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels (RAFMs) walls with and without tungsten (W) armor, have been analyzed. Surface recombination is assumed to be the boundary condition for both the plasma-facing side and the coolant side. It has been found that surface conditions at both sides can affect T permeation flux and inventory. For the first wall using W as armor material, T permeation is not sensitive to the plasma-facing surface conditions. Contamination of the surfaces will lead to higher T inventory inside the first wall.

Applications of the aqueous self-cooled blanket (ASCB) concept to the Next European Torus (NET)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Embrechts, M.J.; Bogaerts, W.; Cardella, A.; Chazalon, M.; Danner, W.; Dinner, P.; Libin, B.

1987-01-01

The Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket Concept (ASCB) leads to a low-technology blanket design that relies on just structural material and coolant with small amounts of lithium compound dissolved in the coolant to provide for tritium production. The application of the ASCB concept in NET is being considered as a driver blanket that would operate at low temperature and low pressure and provide a reliable environment for machine operation during the technology phase. Shielding and tritium production are the primary objectives for such a low-technology blanket. Net tritium breeding is not a design requirement per se for a driver blanket for NET. A DEMO relevant ASCB based blanket test module with (local) tritium self-sufficiency and energy recovery as primary objectives might also be tested in NET if future developments confirm their viability

Mechanical design of a light water breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fauth, W.L. Jr.; Jones, D.S.; Kolsun, G.J.; Erbes, J.G.; Brennan, J.J.; Weissburg, J.A.; Sharbaugh, J.E.

1976-01-01

In a light water reactor system using the thorium-232--uranium-233 fuel system in a seed-blanket modular core configuration having the modules arranged in a symmetrical array surrounded by a reflector blanket region, the seed regions are disposed for a longitudinal movement between the fixed or stationary blanket region which surrounds each seed region. Control of the reactor is obtained by moving the inner seed region thus changing the geometry of the reactor, and thereby changing the leakage of neutrons from the relatively small seed region into the blanket region. The mechanical design of the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core includes means for axially positioning of movable fuel assemblies to achieve the neutron economy required of a breeder reactor, a structure necessary to adequately support the fuel modules without imposing penalties on the breeding capability, a structure necessary to support fuel rods in a closely packed array and a structure necessary to direct and control the flow of coolant to regions in the core in accordance with the heat transfer requirements. 4 claims, 24 drawing figures

Neutronic studies of fissile and fusile breeding blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taczanowski, S.

1984-08-01

In light of the need of convincing motivation substantiating expensive and inherently applied research (nuclear energy), first a simple comparative study of fissile breeding economics of fusion fission hybrids, spallators and also fast breeder reactors has been carried out. As a result, the necessity of maximization of fissile production (in the first two ones, in fast breeders rather the reprocessing costs should be reduced) has been shown, thus indicating the design strategy (high support ratio) for these systems. In spite of the uncertainty of present projections onto further future and discrepancies in available data even quite conservative assumptions indicate that hybrids and perhaps even earlier - spallators can become economic at realistic uranium price increase and successfully compete against fast breeders. Then on the basis of the concept of the neutron flux shaping aimed at the correlation of the selected cross-sections with the neutron flux, the indications for the maximization of respective reaction rates has been formulated. In turn, these considerations serve as the starting point for the guidelines of breeding blanket nuclear design, which are as follows: 1) The source neutrons must face the multiplying layer (of proper thickness) of possibly low concentration of nuclides attenuating the neutron multiplication (i.e. structure materials, nongaseous coolants). 2) For the most effective trapping of neutrons within the breeding zone (leakage and void streaming reduction) it must contain an efficient moderator (not valid for fissile breeding blankets). 3) All regions of significant slow flux should contain 6 Li in order to reduce parasite neutron captures in there. (orig./HP)

The reprocessing of advanced mixed lithium orthosilicate/metatitanate tritium breeder pebbles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leys, Oliver, E-mail: oliver.leys@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Materials, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344 (Germany); Bergfeldt, Thomas; Kolb, Matthias H.H.; Knitter, Regina [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Materials, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344 (Germany); Goraieb, Aniceto A. [Karlsruhe Beryllium Handling Facility, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, 76344 (Germany)

2016-06-15

Highlights: • The recycling of advanced breeder pebbles without a deterioration of the material properties is possible using a melt-based process. • The only accumulation of impurities upon reprocessing, results from the platinum crucible alloy used for processing. • It is possible to replenish burnt-up lithium by additions of LiOH·H{sub 2}O to the melt during reprocessing. - Abstract: The recycling of tritium breeding materials will be necessary for any future use of nuclear fusion energy due to economical as well as ecological considerations. In the case of the solid breeder blanket concept, the ceramic pebble beds that are intended for the generation of tritium will eventually need to be restored due to depleted lithium levels as well as due to fractured pebbles, which will cause a deterioration of the pebble bed properties. It is proposed that the pebbles, which are fabricated using a melt-based process, are recycled using the same initial process, by replenishing the lithium levels and reforming the pebbles at the same time. To prove this recycling scheme, advanced ceramic pebbles were fabricated and then re-melted multiple times to prove that the reprocessing did not have any negative effect on the pebble properties and secondly, pebbles were produced with a simulated lithium burn-up and subsequently replenished by additions of LiOH to the melt. It was shown that the re-melting and lithium re-enrichment had no effect on the pebble properties, demonstrating that a melt-based process is suitable for recycling used breeder pebbles.

Technical evaluation of major candidate blanket systems for fusion power reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tone, Tatsuzo; Seki, Masahiro; Minato, Akio

1987-03-01

The key functions required for tritium breeding blankets for a fusion power reactor are: (1) self-sufficient tritium breeding, (2) in-situ tritium recovery and low tritium inventory, (3) high temperature cooling giving a high efficiency of electricity generation and (4) thermo-mechanical reliability and simplified remote maintenance to obtain high plant availability. Blanket performance is substantially governed by materials selection. Major options of structure/breeder/coolant/neutron multiplier materials considered for the present design study are PCA/Li 2 O/H 2 O/Be, Mo-alloy/Li 2 O/He/Be, Mo-alloy/LiAlO 2 /He/Be, V-alloy/Li/Li/none, and Mo-alloy/Li/He/none. In addition, remote maintenance of blankets, tritium recovery system, heat transport and energy conversion have been investigated. In this report, technological problems and critical R and D issues for power reactor blanket development are identified and a comparison of major candidate blanket concepts is discussed in terms of the present materials data base, economic performance, prospects for future improvements, and engineering feasibility and difficulties based on the results obtained from individual design studies. (author)

Overview of principles and challenges of fusion nuclear technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdou, M.

2007-01-01

Fusion offers very attractive features as a sustainable, broadly available energy source: no emissions of greenhouse gases, no risk of severe accident, and no long-lived radioactive waste. Significant advances in the science and technology of fusion have been realized in the past decades. Seven countries (EU, Japan, USA, Russia, S. Korea, China, and India) comprising about half the world population are constructing a major magnetic fusion facility, called ITER, in France. The objectives of ITER are to demonstrate self-sustaining burning fusion plasma and to test fusion technologies relevant to fusion reactor. Many challenges to the practical utilization of fusion energy remain ahead. Among these challenges is the successful development of Fusion Nuclear Technology (FNT). FNT includes those fusion system components circumscribing the plasma and responsible for tritium production and processing, heat removal at high temperature and power density, and high heat flux components. FNT components face a new and more challenging environment than experienced by any previous nuclear application. Beyond plasma physics, FNT has most of the remaining feasibility and attractiveness issues in the development of fusion as an energy source. The blanket, a key FNT component, determines the critical path to DEMO. The blanket is exposed to an intense radiation environment. Radioactivity and decay heat can be produced in the structure and other blanket elements. Hence, material choices have a large impact on safety and environmental attractiveness. The unique conditions of the fusion environment include high radiation flux, high surface heat flux, strong 3-D-component magnetic field with large gradients, and ultra-low vacuum. These conditions, together with the requirements for high-temperature operation and tritium self-sufficiency, make blanket design and development challenging tasks. The blanket concepts being considered worldwide can be classified into solid breeders and liquid

Target/blanket conceptual design for the Los Alamos ATW concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ames, K.; Cappiello, M.; Ireland, J.; Sapir, J.; Farnum, G.

1992-01-01

The Los Alamos Accelerator Transmutation of Waste (ATW) concept has many potential applications that include defense waste transmutation, defense material production (i.e., tritium and 238 Pu), and the transmutation of hazardous nuclear wastes from commercial nuclear reactors (fission products and actinides). A more advanced long-term Los Alamos effort is investigating the potential of an accelerator- driven system to produce fission energy with a minimal nuclear waste stream. All applications employ a high-energy (800- to 1600-MeV), high-current (25--250 mA) proton linear accelerator as the driver. In this report, we discuss only the target/blanket conceptual design for the commercial nuclear waste application. A conceptual design for the target/blanket of the Los Alamos ATW concept has been presented. The neutronics, mechanical design, and heat transfer have been investigated in some detail for the base-case design. Much more work needs to be done, but at this point it appears that the design is feasible and will approach the design goal of supporting two commercial power reactors with each target/blanket module

Preliminary design of the Neutron Spectral Shifter that is dedicated to the IFMIF Liquid Breeder Validation Module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mas, A., E-mail: amassanchez@gmail.com; Mota, F.; Casal, N.; García, A.; Rapisarda, D.; Arroyo, J.M.; Molla, J.; Ibarra, A.

2014-10-15

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) has a D-Li neutron stripping source that provides typical fusion irradiation conditions for material testing. The Liquid Breeder Validation Module (LBVM) is one of the medium flux test modules of the IFMIF that is used to account for some of the DEMO liquid breeder blanket R and D needs. Previous analyses have shown that the main irradiation parameters (He (appm)/dpa and H (appm)/dpa) in the medium flux area of the IFMIF can be improved to fit the expected parameters in the DEMO reactor for functional materials of liquid breeder blankets. Therefore, the design of an additional module, called the Neutron Spectral Shifter (NSS), has been considered to optimize the irradiation conditions of LBVM experiments. The proposed concept consists of supported tungsten plates working as a shifter material inside a steel structure. This design assures the mechanical integrity of the different components and it fulfills the neutronic requirements as well as the cooling capability. This present paper summarizes the work devoted to the design of the LBVM Neutron Spectral Shifter as well as the results of neutronic, thermo-hydraulic, mechanical and safety studies carried out to validate the design.

On the use of tin-lithium alloys as breeder material for blankets of fusion power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuetterer, M.A.; Aiello, G.; Barbier, F.; Giancarli, L.; Poitevin, Y.; Sardain, P.; Szczepanski, J.; Li Puma, A.; Ruvutuso, G.; Vella, G.

2000-01-01

Tin-lithium alloys have several attractive thermo-physical properties, in particular high thermal conductivity and heat capacity, that make them potentially interesting candidates for use in liquid metal blankets. This paper presents an evaluation of the advantages and drawbacks caused by the substitution of the currently employed alloy lead-lithium (Pb-17Li) by a suitable tin-lithium alloy: (i) for the European water-cooled Pb-17Li (WCLL) blanket concept with reduced activation ferritic-martensitic steel as the structural material; (ii) for the European self-cooled TAURO blanket with SiC f /SiC as the structural material. It was found that in none of these blankets Sn-Li alloys would lead to significant advantages, in particular due to the low tritium breeding capability. Only in forced convection cooled divertors with W-alloy structure, Sn-Li alloys would be slightly more favorable. It is concluded that Sn-Li alloys are only advantageous in free surface cooled reactor internals, as this would make maximum use of the principal advantage of Sn-Li, i.e., the low vapor pressure

Test module in NET for a self-cooled liquid metal blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malang, S.; Arheidt, K.; Fischer, U.

1989-01-01

The application of a self-cooled liquid metal blanket concept to the condition of a DEMO-reactor and its testing in NET is described. The neutronics analysis shows that tritium self-sufficiency can be achieved without beryllium multiplier if breeding blankets are arranged at both outboard and inboard side of the torus or, using beryllium as multiplier, with outboard breeding only. First estimates indicate that it should be possible to test all relevant features of the concept in one of the horizontal plug positions of NET. (author). 6 refs.; 7 figs.; 1 tab

Conceptual design study for a mirror fusion breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Jinhua; Deng Boquan; Li Guiqing

1986-01-01

A mirror fusion breeder, CHD, has been designed for providing plenty of nuclear fuel for light water reactors to meet the needs for rapid development of nuclear power in the first half of next century. The breeder is able to support the nuclear fuel needs for more than 10 LWRs of equal scale in power with fuel enriched directly in CHD without reprocessing. Measures are taken to flatten the power density distribution in the blanket so that fission is suppressed in the region close to the plasma, and by this way fuel production is enhanced for this direct enriched fusion breeder. In order to reduce the MHD pressure drop, LiPb flows in the blanket axially. Though the tritium inventory in the reactor is very low, special material and design have to be developed to reduce the permeation of tritium through the coolant pipes. The cost of electricity from the system, consisting of 11 LWR plants and one fusion breeder is predicted to be 1.05 times of that from a traditional LWR plant. This figure is insensitive both to the cost of CHD and its support ratio

Methodology for accident analyses of fusion breeder blankets and its application to helium-cooled pebble bed blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panayotov, Dobromir; Grief, Andrew; Merrill, Brad J.; Humrickhouse, Paul; Trow, Martin; Dillistone, Michael; Murgatroyd, Julian T.; Owen, Simon; Poitevin, Yves; Peers, Karen; Lyons, Alex; Heaton, Adam; Scott, Richard

2016-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Test Blanket Systems (TBS) DEMO breeding blankets (BB) safety demonstration. • Comprehensive methodology for fusion breeding blanket accident analysis that addresses the specificity of the breeding blanket designs, materials, and phenomena. • Development of accident analysis specifications (AAS) via the use of phenomena identification and ranking tables (PIRT). • PIRT application to identify required physical models for BB accidents analysis, code assessment and selection. • Development of MELCOR and RELAP5 codes TBS models. • Qualification of the models via comparison with finite element calculations, code-tocode comparisons, and sensitivity studies. - Abstract: ‘Fusion for Energy’ (F4E) is designing, developing, and implementing the European Helium-Cooled Lead-Lithium (HCLL) and Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Systems (TBSs) for ITER (Nuclear Facility INB-174). Safety demonstration is an essential element for the integration of these TBSs into ITER and accident analysis is one of its critical components. A systematic approach to accident analysis has been developed under the F4E contract on TBS safety analyses. F4E technical requirements, together with Amec Foster Wheeler and INL efforts, have resulted in a comprehensive methodology for fusion breeding blanket accident analysis that addresses the specificity of the breeding blanket designs, materials, and phenomena while remaining consistent with the approach already applied to ITER accident analyses. The methodology phases are illustrated in the paper by its application to the EU HCPB TBS using both MELCOR and RELAP5 codes.

Methodology for accident analyses of fusion breeder blankets and its application to helium-cooled pebble bed blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Panayotov, Dobromir, E-mail: dobromir.panayotov@f4e.europa.eu [Fusion for Energy (F4E), Josep Pla, 2, Torres Diagonal Litoral B3, Barcelona E-08019 (Spain); Grief, Andrew [Amec Foster Wheeler, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford WA16 8QZ, Cheshire (United Kingdom); Merrill, Brad J.; Humrickhouse, Paul [Idaho National Laboratory, PO Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Trow, Martin; Dillistone, Michael; Murgatroyd, Julian T.; Owen, Simon [Amec Foster Wheeler, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford WA16 8QZ, Cheshire (United Kingdom); Poitevin, Yves [Fusion for Energy (F4E), Josep Pla, 2, Torres Diagonal Litoral B3, Barcelona E-08019 (Spain); Peers, Karen; Lyons, Alex; Heaton, Adam; Scott, Richard [Amec Foster Wheeler, Booths Park, Chelford Road, Knutsford WA16 8QZ, Cheshire (United Kingdom)

2016-11-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Test Blanket Systems (TBS) DEMO breeding blankets (BB) safety demonstration. • Comprehensive methodology for fusion breeding blanket accident analysis that addresses the specificity of the breeding blanket designs, materials, and phenomena. • Development of accident analysis specifications (AAS) via the use of phenomena identification and ranking tables (PIRT). • PIRT application to identify required physical models for BB accidents analysis, code assessment and selection. • Development of MELCOR and RELAP5 codes TBS models. • Qualification of the models via comparison with finite element calculations, code-tocode comparisons, and sensitivity studies. - Abstract: ‘Fusion for Energy’ (F4E) is designing, developing, and implementing the European Helium-Cooled Lead-Lithium (HCLL) and Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Systems (TBSs) for ITER (Nuclear Facility INB-174). Safety demonstration is an essential element for the integration of these TBSs into ITER and accident analysis is one of its critical components. A systematic approach to accident analysis has been developed under the F4E contract on TBS safety analyses. F4E technical requirements, together with Amec Foster Wheeler and INL efforts, have resulted in a comprehensive methodology for fusion breeding blanket accident analysis that addresses the specificity of the breeding blanket designs, materials, and phenomena while remaining consistent with the approach already applied to ITER accident analyses. The methodology phases are illustrated in the paper by its application to the EU HCPB TBS using both MELCOR and RELAP5 codes.

Imploding-liner reactor nucleonic studies: the LINUS blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dudziak, D.J.

1977-09-01

Scoping nucleonic studies have been performed for a small imploding-liner fusion reactor concept. Tritium breeding ratio and time-dependent energy deposition rates were the primary parameters of interest in the study. Alloys of Pb and LiPb were considered for the liquid liner (blanket), and tritium breeding was found to be more than adequate with blankets less than 1 m thick. However, neutron leakages into the solid cylinder block surrounding the liquid liner are generally quite high, so considerable effort was concentrated on minimizing these values. Time-dependent calculations reveal that 89% of the energy is deposited in the blanket within 2 μs. Thus, LINUS's blanket should remain intact for the requisite neutron and gamma-ray lifetimes

Activation analysis of tritium breeder lithium lead irradiated by fusion neutrons in FDS-II

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mingliang Chen

2006-01-01

R-and-D of fusion materials, especially their activation characteristics, is one of the key issues for fusion research in the world. Research on activation characteristics for low activation materials, such as reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels, vanadium alloys and SiCf/SiC composites, is being done throughout the world to ensure the attractiveness of fusion power regarding safety and environmental aspects. However, there is less research on the activation characteristics of the other important fusion materials, such as tritium breeder etc.. Lithium lead (Li 17 Pb 83 ) is presently considered as a primary candidate tritium breeder for fusion power reactors because of its attractive characteristics. It can serve as a tritium breeder, neutron multiplier and coolant in the blanket at the same time. The radioactivity of Li 17 Pb 83 by D-T fusion neutrons in FDS-II has been calculated and analyzed. FDS-II is a concept design of fusion power reactor, which consists of fusion core with advanced plasma parameters extrapolated from the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) and two candidates of liquid lithium breeder blankets (named SLL and DLL blankets). The neutron transport and activation calculation are carried out based on the one-dimensional model for FDS-II with the home-developed multi-functional code system VisualBUS and the multi-group data library HENDL1.0/MG and European Activation File EAF-99. The effects of irradiation time on the activation characteristics of Li 17 Pb 83 were analyzed and it concludes that the irradiation time has an important effect on the activation level of Li 17 Pb 83 . Furthermore, the results were compared with the activation levels of other tritium breeders, such as Li 4 SiO 4 , Li 2 TiO 3 , Li 2 O and Li etc., under the same irradiation conditions. The dominant nuclides to dose rate and activity of Li 17 Pb 83 were analyzed as well. Tritium generated by Li has a great contribution to the afterheat and

Combined system of accelerator molten-salt breeder (AMSB) apd molten-salt converter reactor (MSCR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furukawa, K.; Kato, Y.; Ohmichi, T.; Ohno, H.

1983-01-01

A design and research program is discUssed of the development of accelerator molten-salt breeder (AMSB) consisting of a proton accelerator and a molten fluoride target. The target simultaneously serves as a blanket for fissionable material prodUction. An addition of some amoUnt of fissile nuclides to a melt expands the AMSB potentialities as the fissionable material production increases and the energy generation also grows up to the level of self-provision. Besides the blanket salts may be used as nuclear fuel for molten-salt converter reactor (MSCR). The combined AM SB+MSCR system has better parameters as compared to other breeder reactors, molten-salt breeder reactors (MSBR) included

Technical issues for beryllium use in fusion blanket applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCarville, T.J.; Berwald, D.H.; Wolfer, W.; Fulton, F.J.; Lee, J.D.; Maninger, R.C.; Moir, R.W.; Beeston, J.M.; Miller, L.G.

1985-01-01

Beryllium is an excellent non-fissioning neutron multiplier for fusion breeder and fusion electric blanket applications. This report is a compilation of information related to the use of beryllium with primary emphasis on the fusion breeder application. Beryllium resources, production, fabrication, properties, radiation damage and activation are discussed. A new theoretical model for beryllium swelling is presented

A 2D Finite Element Modelling of Tritium Permeation Through Cooling Plates for The HCLL DEMO Blanket Module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gabriel, F.; Escuriol, Y.; Dabbene, F.; Salavy, J.F.; Giancarli, L.; Gastaldi, O.

2006-01-01

As the Tritium self sufficiency is one of the major challenges for fusion reactor, breeding blankets represent one of the major technological breakthroughs required from passing from ITER to the next step reactor, usually called DEMO. One of the two blanket concepts developed in the EU is the Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) blanket which uses the eutectic Pb-15.7Li metal liquid as both breeder and neutron multiplier. The structures, made of EUROFER, a low activation ferritic martensitic steel, are cooled by pressurized helium at 8 MPa and inlet/outlet temperature 300/500 o C. In this concept, the LiPb is fed from the top of the blanket and distributed in parallel vertical channels among pairs of cells (one cell for the radial movement towards the plasma, the other for the return). The liquid metal fills the in-box volume and is slowly re-circulated (few mm per seconds) to remove the produced tritium. In this paper, a local finite element modelling of the tritium permeation rate through the HCLL breeder unit cooling plates is presented. The tritium concentration in the helium circuit and remaining in the lithium lead circuit are evaluated by solving partial differential equations governing the tritium concentration balance, the thermal field and the lithium lead velocity field for a simplified 2D geometrical representation of the breeder unit. This allows estimating the sensitivity effect of coupling these different equations in order to deduce a relevant but simplified modelling for tritium permeation. This is to compare with tritium inventories studies, were the tritium permeation rate is estimated using simplified analytical modelling which generally leads to over estimate the tritium permeation rate to the coolant and so has strong influence on the coolant purification plant design. The finite element modelling performed shows that the Tritium permeation is considerable lower than the one obtained in previous estimations where nominal values of the governing

Thermal hydraulic analyses of two fusion reactor first wall/blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misra, B.; Maroni, V.A.

1977-01-01

A comparative study has been made of the thermal hydraulic performance of two liquid lithium blanket concepts for tokamak-type reactors. In one concept lithium is circulated through 60-cm deep cylindrical modules oriented so that the module axis is parallel to the reactor minor radius. In the other concept helium carrying channels oriented parallel to the first wall are used to cool a 60-cm thick stagnant lithium blanket. Paralleling studies were carried out wherein the thermal and structural properties of the construction materials were based on those projected for either solution-annealed 316-stainless steel or vanadium-base alloys. The effects of limitations on allowable peak structural temperature, material strength, thermal stress, coolant inlet temperature, and pumping power/thermal power ratio were evaluated. Consequences to thermal hydraulic performance resulting from the presence of or absence of a divertor were also investigated

Thermal hydraulic analyses of two fusion reactor first wall/blanket concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Misra, B.; Maroni, V.A.

1978-01-01

A comparative study has been made of the thermal hydraulic performance of two liquid lithium blanket concepts for tokamak-type reactors. In one concept lithium is circulated through 60-cm deep cylindrical modules oriented so that the module axis is parallel to the reactor minor radius. In the other concept helium carrying channels oriented parallel to the first wall are used to cool a 60-cm thick stagnant lithium blanket. Paralleling studies were carried out wherein the thermal and structural properties of the construction materials were based on those projected for either solution-annealed 316-stainless steel or vanadium-base alloys. The effects of limitations on allowable peak structural temperature, material strength, thermal stress, coolant inlet temperature, and pumping power/thermal power ratio were evaluated. Consequences to thermal hydraulic performance resulting from the presence of or absence of a divertor were also investigated

An analysis of electron beam welds in a dual coolant liquid metal breeder blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cizelj, L.; Riesch-Oppermann, H.; Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH

1994-10-01

Numerical simulation of electron beam welding of blanket segments was performed using non-linear finite element code ABAQUS. The thermal and stress fields were assumed uncoupled, while preserving the temperature dependency of all material parameters. The martensite-austenite and austenite-martensite transformations were taken into account through volume shrinking/expansion effects, which is consistent with available data. The distributions of post welding residual stress in a complex geometry of the first wall are obtained. Also, the effects of preheating and post-welding heat treatment were addressed. Time dependent temperature and stress-strain fields obtained provide good insight into the welding process. They may be used directly to support reliability and life-time studies of blanket structures. On the other hand, they provide useful hints about the feasibility of the geometrical configurations as proposed by different design concepts. (orig.) [de

RAMI analysis for DEMO HCPB blanket concept cooling system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dongiovanni, Danilo N., E-mail: danilo.dongiovanni@enea.it [ENEA, Unità Tecnica Fusione, ENEA C. R. Frascati (Italy); Pinna, Tonio [ENEA, Unità Tecnica Fusione, ENEA C. R. Frascati (Italy); Carloni, Dario [KIT, Institute of Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) – KIT (Germany)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • RAMI (reliability, availability, maintainability and inspectability) preliminary assessment for HCPB blanket concept cooling system. • Reliability block diagram (RBD) modeling and analysis for HCPB primary heat transfer system (PHTS), coolant purification system (CPS), pressure control system (PCS), and secondary cooling system. • Sensitivity analysis on system availability performance. • Failure models and repair models estimated on the base of data from the ENEA fusion component failure rate database (FCFRDB). - Abstract: A preliminary RAMI (reliability, availability, maintainability and inspectability) assessment for the HCPB (helium cooled pebble bed) blanket cooling system based on currently available design for DEMO fusion power plant is presented. The following sub-systems were considered in the analysis: blanket modules, primary cooling loop including pipework and steam generators lines, pressure control system (PCS), coolant purification system (CPS) and secondary cooling system. For PCS and CPS systems an extrapolation from ITER Test Blanket Module corresponding systems was used as reference design in the analysis. Helium cooled pebble bed (HCPB) system reliability block diagrams (RBD) models were implemented taking into account: system reliability-wise configuration, operating schedule currently foreseen for DEMO, maintenance schedule and plant evolution schedule as well as failure and corrective maintenance models. A simulation of plant activity was then performed on implemented RBDs to estimate plant availability performance on a mission time of 30 calendar years. The resulting availability performance was finally compared to availability goals previously proposed for DEMO plant by a panel of experts. The study suggests that inherent availability goals proposed for DEMO PHTS system and Tokamak auxiliaries are potentially achievable for the primary loop of the HCPB concept cooling system, but not for the secondary loop. A

Present status of irradiation tests on tritium breeding blanket for fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Futamura, Yoshiaki; Sagawa, Hisashi; Shimakawa, Satoshi; Tsuchiya, Kunihiko; Kuroda, Toshimasa; Kawamura, Hiroshi.

1994-01-01

To develop a tritium breeding blanket for a fusion reactor, irradiation tests in fission reactors are indispensable for obtaining data on irradiation effects on materials, and neutronics/thermal characteristics and tritium production/recovery performance of the blanket. Various irradiation tests have been conducted in the world, especially to investigate tritium release characteristics from tritium breeding and neutron multiplier materials, and materials integrity under irradiation. In Japan, VOM experiments at JRR-2 for ceramic breeders and experiments at JMTR for ceramic breeders and beryllium as a neutron multiplier have been performed. Several universities have also investigated ceramic breeders. In the EC, the EXOTIC experiments at HFR in the Netherlands and the SIBELIUS, the LILA, the LISA and the MOZART experiments for ceramic breeders have carried out. In Canada, NRU has been used for the CRITIC experiments. The TRIO experiments at ORR(ORNL), experiments at RTNS-II, FUBR and ATR have been conducted in the USA. The last two are experiments with high neutron fluence aiming at investigating materials integrity under irradiation. The BEATRIX-I and -II experiments have proceeded under international collaboration of Japan, Canada, the EC and the USA. This report shows the present status of these irradiation tests following a review of the blanket design in the ITER CDA(Conceptual Design Activity). (author)

Annual report 1991 on R and D work by the Institute for Materials and Solid State Research (IMF), Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-03-01

The annual report summarises the activities of the IMF in the following subject areas: 1) Contributions to the PKF (fusion technology project (refewing to structural materials, superconducting magnets, blanket development); 2) PSU, project for the management of pollutants in the environment (treatment and recycling of hazardous waste); 3) solid state and materials research (high-temperature materials, ceramic materials as protective coatings, polymer materials, high-performance ceramics, high-TC superconducting materials; biomechanics, laser technology); 4) microtechnology (development and testing of compact or layered materials in microtechnology); 5) PSF project, nuclear safety, research (safety and materials aspects of fast breeder reactors, transient behaviour of fuel elements in fact breeder reactors, LWR-specific safety research, containment design concepts for the next generation of PWR-type reactors); 6) NE project, nuclear waste management (analysis of solid wastes from the dissolution of spent LWR fuels, materials testing in nitric acid). The primary reports and other publications of the Institute issued in 1991 are listed in an annex. (orig./MM) [de

Manufacturing aspects in the design of the breeder unit for Helium Cooled Pebble Bed blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rey, J.; Ihli, T.; Filsinger, D.; Polixa, C.

2007-01-01

The breeding blanket programme has been in the focus of European fusion research for more than a decade. Recently, it has been driven by the EU Power Plant Conceptual Study (PPCS), investigating the potential of fusion energy in a future economic environment. On the way to the first commercial nuclear fusion reactor (DEMO) new studies for reactor in-vessel components have been initiated. One central focus is the design and manufacturing of the blankets that have to ensure the breeding process to maintain the fuel cycle and are also responsible for the extraction of the main part of the reactor heat for power generation. Two kinds are established: One is the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) and the other the Helium Cooled Liquid Lead (HCLL) blanket. Both designs employ three different cooling plate assemblies. The outer, cooled U-shaped shell, namely the First Wall (FW), with two caps builds the blanket box. The structural strength of the blanket box is realized by integrating Stiffening Grids (SG) that separate the equally spaced Breeder Unit (BU) and allow the box, in case of faulted conditions, to withstand an internal pressure of 8 MPa. The cooled SG constitute the side walls of the BU and are also cooled. The BU consists of a dedicated Cooling Plate (CP) assembly. In present studies about the fabrication of Cooling Plates two kinds of diffusion welding processes are focused on. One is based on a Hot Isostatic Gas Process (HIP). The second is a uni-axial Diffusion Welding Process (DWP). In both cases the bond between the two halves of the cooling plate structure is reached by controlled pressure and heat cycles. Approaching larger, realistic scaled components the uncertainty of ensuring uniform process parameters across the bonding zone increases the risk of defect sources and, therefore, makes it difficult to guarantee the required bonding penetration. This study presents an alternative manufacturing strategy. The premises for this strategy are the reduction of

Accelerator molten-salt breeder reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furukawa, Kazuo; Kuroi, Hideo; Kato, Yoshio; Oomichi, Toshihiko.

1979-01-01

Purpose: To obtain fission products and to transmute transuranium elements and other radioactive wastes by the use of Accelerator Molten-Salt Breeder Reactor. Constitution: Beams from an accelerator pipe at one end of a target vessel is injected through a window into target molten salts filled inside of the target vessel. The target molten salts are subjected to pump recycling or spontaneous convection while forcively cooled by blanket molten salts in an outer vessel. Then, energy is recovered from the blanket molten salts or the target molten salts at high temperatures through electric power generation or the like. Those salts containing such as thorium 232 and uranium 238 are used as the blanket molten salts so that fission products may be produced by neutrons generated in the target molten salts. PbCl 2 -PbF 2 and LiF-BeF 2 -ThF 4 can be used as the target molten salts and as the blanket molten salts respectively. (Seki, T.)

Overview of R and D at TLK for process and analytical issues on tritium management in breeder blankets of ITER and DEMO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Demange, D.; Alecu, C.G.; Bekris, N.; Borisevich, O.; Bornschein, B.; Fischer, S.; Gramlich, N.; Köllö, Z.; Le, T.L.; Michling, R.; Priester, F.; Röllig, M.; Schlösser, M.; Stämmler, S.; Sturm, M.; Wagner, R.; Welte, S.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► We present advanced processes and analytics to improve tritium management. ► Membranes and membrane reactors can minimise tritium residence time and inventory. ► Spectroscopic methods can ensure on-line and near to real time tritium measurement. - Abstract: Safe, reliable, and efficient tritium management in the breeder blanket will have to face unprecedented technological challenges. Beside the efficiency for tritium recovery from the breeder blanket (Tritium Extraction (TES) and Coolant Purification Systems (CPS)), the accuracy for tritium tracking between the inner and the outer fuel cycle must also be demonstrated. This paper focuses on the recent R and D carried out at the Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe to tackle these issues. For ITER, the recently consolidated TES and CPS designs comprise adsorption columns and getter beds operated in semi-continuous mode. Different approaches for the tritium accountancy stage (TAS) have been evaluated. Balancing static (batch-wise gas collection at the TBM outlets and the tritium plant) or dynamic (in/on-line) approaches with respect to the expected analytical performances and integration issues, the first conceptual design of the TAS for EU TBMs is presented. For DEMO, the overall strategy for tritium recovery and tracking has been revisited. The necessity for on-line real-time tritium accountancy and improved process efficiency suggest the use of continuous processes such as permeator and catalytic membrane reactor. The main benefits combining the PERMCAT process with advanced membranes is discussed with respect to process improvements and facilitated accountancy using spectroscopic methods.

Concept for a vertical maintenance remote handling system for multi module blanket segments in DEMO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coleman, M.; Sykes, N.; Cooper, D.; Iglesias, D.; Bastow, R.; Loving, A.; Harman, J.

2014-01-01

Highlights: •A conceptual architectural model for a vertical maintenance DEMO is presented. •Novel concepts for a set of DEMO remote handling equipment are put forward. •Remote maintenance of a multi module segment blanket is found to be feasible. •The criticality of space in the vertical port is highlighted. -- Abstract: The anticipated high neutron flux, and the consequent damage to plasma-facing components in DEMO, results in the need to regularly replace the tritium breeding and radiation shielding blanket. The current European multi module segment (MMS) blanket concept favours a less invasive small port entry maintenance system over large sector transport concepts, because of the reduced impact on other tokamak systems – particularly the magnetic coils. This paper presents a novel conceptual remote maintenance strategy for a Vertical Maintenance Scheme DEMO, incorporating substantiated designs for an in-vessel mover, to detach and attach the blanket segments, and cask-housed vertical maintenance devices to open and close access ports, cut and join service connections, and extract blanket segments from the vessel. In addition, a conceptual architectural model for DEMO was generated to capture functional and spatial interfaces between the remote maintenance equipment and other systems. Areas of further study are identified in order to comprehensively establish the feasibility of the proposed maintenance system

A helium-cooled blanket design of the low aspect ratio reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.; Baxi, C.B.; Reis, E.E.; Cerbone, R.; Cheng, E.T.

1998-03-01

An aggressive low aspect ratio scoping fusion reactor design indicated that a 2 GW(e) reactor can have a major radius as small as 2.9 m resulting in a device with competitive cost of electricity at 49 mill/kWh. One of the technology requirements of this design is a high performance high power density first wall and blanket system. A 15 MPa helium-cooled, V-alloy and stagnant LiPb breeder first wall and blanket design was utilized. Due to the low solubility of tritium in LiPb, there is the concern of tritium migration and the formation of V-hydride. To address these issues, a lithium breeder system with high solubility of tritium has been evaluated. Due to the reduction of blanket energy multiplication to 1.2, to maintain a plant Q of > 4, the major radius of the reactor has to be increased to 3.05 m. The inlet helium coolant temperature is raised to 436 C in order to meet the minimum V-alloy temperature limit everywhere in the first wall and blanket system. To enhance the first wall heat transfer, a swirl tape coolant channel design is used. The corresponding increase in friction factor is also taken into consideration. To reduce the coolant system pressure drop, the helium pressure is increased from 15 to 18 MPa. Thermal structural analysis is performed for a simple tube design. With an inside tube diameter of 1 cm and a wall thickness of 1.5 mm, the lithium breeder can remove an average heat flux and neutron wall loading of 2 and 8 MW/m(2), respectively. This reference design can meet all the temperature and material structural design limits, as well as the coolant velocity limits. Maintaining an outlet coolant temperature of 650 C, one can expect a gross closed cycle gas turbine thermal efficiency of 45%. This study further supports the use of helium coolant for high power density reactor design. When used with the low aspect ratio reactor concept a competitive fusion reactor can be projected at 51.9 mill/kWh

Alternative breeder reactor technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spinrad, B.I.

1978-01-01

The significance of employing breeder reactors to stretch the world resources of nuclear fuels is briefly discussed, and the various types of breeder concepts are described. General descriptions, advantages, and disadvantages of the liquid metal cooled fast breeder, gas cooled fast breeder, molten salt breeder, thermal breeders, and spectral-shift control reactors are presented. Aspects of safeguarding fissile material connected with breeder operation are examined. 31 references

ITER convertible blanket evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Cheng, E.

1995-01-01

Proposed International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) convertible blankets were reviewed. Key design difficulties were identified. A new particle filter concept is introduced and key performance parameters estimated. Results show that this particle filter concept can satisfy all of the convertible blanket design requirements except the generic issue of Be blanket lifetime. If the convertible blanket is an acceptable approach for ITER operation, this particle filter option should be a strong candidate

Application of the integrated blanket-coil concept (IBC) to fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Embrechts, M.J.; Steiner, D.; Mohanti, R.; Duggan, W.

1987-01-01

A novel concept is proposed for combining the blanket and coil functions of a fusion reactor into a single component and several unique applications to fusion reactor embodiments are identified. The proposed concept takes advantage of the fact that lithium is a good electrical conductor in addition to being a unique tritium-breeding material capable of energy recovery and transport at high temperatures. This concept, designated the ''integrated-blanket-coil (IBC) concept'' has the potential for: allowing fusion reactor embodiments which are easier to maintain; making fusion reactors more compact with an intrinsic ultra-high mass power density (net kW/sub E//metric tonne); and enhancing the tritium breeding potential for special coil applications such as ohmic heating and bean identation. By assuming a sandwich construction for the IBC walls (i.e., a layered combination of a thin wall of structural material, insulator and structural materials) the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)-induced pressure drops and associated pressure stresses are modest and well below design limits. Possible unique applications of the IBC concept have been investigated and include the IBC concept applied to the poloidal field (PF) coils, toroidal field (TF) coils, divertor coils, ohmic heating (OH) coils, and identation coils for bean shaping

Neutronic studies of a 233U breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hansen, L.F.; Maniscalco, J.A.

1978-09-01

Neutronic calculations have been carried out to design a laser fusion driven hybrid blanket which maximizes 233 U production per unit of thermal energy (>1 kg/MW/sub T/-year) with acceptable fusion energy multiplication (M/sub F/ approx. 4). Two hybrid blankets, a thorium and a uranium--thorium blanket, are discussed in detail and their performance is evaluated by incorporating them into an existing hybrid design (the LLL/Bechtel design). The performance of these two blankets is discussed in terms of their energy multiplication, tritium breeding and fissile fuel production. The neutronic calculations have been done for two neutron libraries, the ENDF/B-IV and the ENDL with differences no larger than 10% in the results. An estimate is given of the number of equivalent thermal power fission reactors (LWR, HWR, SSCR, and HTGR) that these fusion breeders can fuel

Nuclear, thermo-mechanical and tritium release analysis of ITER breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosaku, Yasuo; Kuroda, Toshimasa; Enoeda, Mikio; Hatano, Toshihisa; Sato, Satoshi; Miki, Nobuharu; Akiba, Masato

2003-06-01

The design of the breeding blanket in ITER applies pebble bed breeder in tube (BIT) surrounded by multiplier pebble bed. It is assumed to use the same module support mechanism and coolant manifolds and coolant system as the shielding blankets. This work focuses on the verification of the design of the breeding blanket, from the viewpoints which is especially unique to the pebble bed type breeding blanket, such as, tritium breeding performance, tritium inventory and release behavior and thermo-mechanical performance of the ITER breeding blanket. With respect to the neutronics analysis, the detailed analyses of the distribution of the nuclear heating rate and TBR have been performed in 2D model using MCNP to clarify the input data for the tritium inventory and release rate analyses and thermo-mechanical analyses. With respect to the tritium inventory and release behavior analysis, the parametric analyses for selection of purge gas flow rate were carried out from the view point of pressure drop and the tritium inventory/release performance for Li 2 TiO 3 breeder. The analysis result concluded that purge gas flow rate can be set to conventional flow rate setting (88 l/min per module) to 1/10 of that to save the purge gas flow and minimize the size of purge gas pipe. However, it is necessary to note that more tritium is transformed to HTO (chemical form of water) in case of Li 2 TiO 3 compared to other breeder materials. With respect to the thermo-mechanical analyses of the pebble bed blanket structure, the analyses have been performed by ABAQUS with 2D model derived from one of eight facets of a blanket module, based on the reference design. Analyses were performed to identify the temperature distribution incorporating the pebble bed mechanical simulation and influence of mechanical behavior to the thermal behavior. The result showed that the maximum temperature in the breeding material was 617degC in the first row of breeding rods and the minimum temperature was 328

A comparison of fusion breeder/fission client and fission breeder/fission client systems for electrical energy production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Land, R.J.; Parish, T.A.

1983-01-01

A parametric study that evaluated the economic performance of breeder/client systems is described. The linkage of the breeders to the clients was modelled using the stockpile approach to determine the system doubling time. Since the actual capital costs of the breeders are uncertain, a precise prediction of the cost of a breeder was not attempted. Instead, the breakeven capital cost of a breeder relative to the capital cost of a client reactor was established by equating the cost of electricity from the breeder/client system to the cost of a system consisting of clients alone. Specific results are presented for two breeder/client systems. The first consisted of an LMFBR with LWR clients. The second consisted of a DT fusion reactor (with a 238 U fission suppressed blanket) with LWR clients. The economics of each system was studied as a function of the cost of fissile fuel from a conventional source. Generally, the LMFBR/LWR system achieved relatively small breakeven capital cost ratios; the maximum ratio computed was 2.2 (achieved at approximately triple current conventional fissile material cost). The DTFR/LWR system attained a maximum breakeven capital cost ratio of 4.5 (achieved at the highest plasma quality (ignited device) and triple conventional fissile cost)

Trial synthesis of Li{sub 2}Be{sub 2}O{sub 3} for high-functional tritium breeders

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hoshino, Tsuyoshi, E-mail: hoshino.tsuyoshi@jaea.go.jp [Breeding Functional Materials Development Group, Fusion Research and Development Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-166, Obuchi, Omotedate, Rokkasho-mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan); Oikawa, Fumiaki [Breeding Functional Materials Development Group, Fusion Research and Development Directorate, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-166, Obuchi, Omotedate, Rokkasho-mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan); Natori, Yuri; Kato, Kenichi; Sakka, Tomoko; Nakamura, Mutsumi; Tatenuma, Katsuyoshi [Kaken, Co. Ltd., 1044, Hori, Mito-city, Ibaraki 310-0903 (Japan)

2013-10-15

Highlights: • Mixtures of tritium breeder and neutron multiplier (Be or Be{sub 12}Ti) pebbles are being considered for increasing the tritium breeding ratio in DEMO blankets. • A high-functional tritium breeder such as lithium beryllium oxide (Li{sub 2}Be{sub 2}O{sub 3}) needs to be developed to compensate for this reaction under high-temperatures. • Solid-state reaction of LiOH·H{sub 2}O and BeO is well-suited for synthesizing Li{sub 2}Be{sub 2}O{sub 3}. • The optimum sintering temperature was selected from 1000 K to 1273 K by TG–DTA. -- Abstract: Mixtures of tritium breeder (lithium) and neutron multiplier (beryllium) are being considered for use in increasing the tritium breeding ratio in breeding blankets. However, lithium and beryllium react under normal operating conditions, and therefore, a high-functional tritium breeder such as lithium beryllium oxide (Li{sub 2}Be{sub 2}O{sub 3}) needs to be developed to compensate for this reaction under high-temperatures. LiOH·H{sub 2}O and BeO powders were mixed in stoichiometric proportions at a Li/Be molecular ratio of 1.0. The sintering temperature was established as 1073 K by thermogravimetric/differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA). The Li/Be molar ratio of the reaction products measured by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) after the reaction agreed with the nominal molar ratio obtained by mixing LiOH·H{sub 2}O and BeO. Crystal structure analysis of this powder was performed by the XRD technique. The XRD patterns of products were the same as those of Li{sub 2}Be{sub 2}O{sub 3} as listed in the JC-PDF-Card, and no impurities were indicated. The results indicate that the solid-state reaction of LiOH·H{sub 2}O and BeO is suitable for synthesizing lithium beryllium oxide (Li{sub 2}Be{sub 2}O{sub 3})

Carbon tiles as spectral-shifter for long-life liquid blanket in LHD-type reactor FFHR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sagara, A.; Imagawa, S.; Tanaka, T.; Muroga, T.; Kubota, Y.; Dolan, T.; Hashizume, H.; Kunugi, T.; Fukada, S.; Shimizu, A.; Terai, T.; Mitarai, O.

2006-01-01

In terms of engineering feasibility for long-life Flibe blanket in LHD-type reactor FFHR, the Spectral-shifter and Tritium breeder Blanket (STB) concept is evaluated by taking neutron irradiation effects into account under system integration such as Flibe cooling and components replacement. FEM calculations for the neutron wall loading of 1.5 MW/m 2 show that the temperature of the STB armor tile can be kept below 2000 K by optimizing the first metal wall thickness. The heat load experiment on the STB armor mockup confirms feasibility of the temperature control and mechanical joining. Degradation of STB armor tiles due to neutron irradiation requires replacement of them every few years by means of remote handling 'screw coasters' using helical winding, where the replaced tiles are low level wastes. Although the STB concept is feasible within nuclear and thermal properties, more detailed structural optimization is needed including the mechanical and chemical properties

Design analyses of self-cooled liquid metal blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

1986-12-01

A trade-off study of liquid metal self-cooled blankets was carried out to define the performance of these blankets and to determine the potential to operate at the maximum possible values of the performance parameters. The main parameters considered during the course of the study were the tritium breeding ratio (TBR), the blanket energy multiplication factor, the energy fraction lost to the shield, the lithium-6 enrichment in the breeder material, the total blanket thickness, the reflector material selection, and the compositions of the different blanket zones. Also, a study was carried out to assess the impact of different reactor design choices on the reactor performance parameters. The design choices include the impurity control system (limiter or divertor), the material choice for the limiter, the elimination of tritium breeding from the inboard section of tokamak reactors, and the coolant choice for the nonbreeding inboard blanket. In addition, tritium breeding benchmark calculations were performed using different transport codes and nuclear data libraries. The importance of the TBR in the blanket design motivated the benchmark calculations

Analysis of tritium behaviour and recovery from a water-cooled Pb17Li blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malara, C.; Casini, G.; Viola, A.

1995-01-01

The question of the tritium recovery in water-cooled Pb17Li blankets has been under investigation for several years at JRC Ispra. The method which has been more extensively analysed is that of slowly circulating the breeder out from the blanket units and of extracting the tritium from it outside the plasma vacuum vessel by helium gas purging or vacuum degassing in a suited process apparatus. A computerized model of the tritium behaviour in the blanket units and in the extraction system was developed. It includes four submodels: (1) tritium permeation process from the breeder to the cooling water as a function of the local operative conditions (tritium concentration in Pb17Li, breeder temperature and flow rate); (2) tritium mass balance in each breeding unit; (3) tritium desorption from the breeder material to the gas phase of the extraction system; (4) tritium extraction efficiency as a function of the design parameters of the recovery apparatus. In the present paper, on the basis of this model, a parametric study of the tritium permeation rate in the cooling water and of the tritium inventory in the blanket is carried out. Results are reported and discussed in terms of dimensionless groups which describe the relative effects of the overall resistance on tritium transfer to the cooling water (with and without permeation barriers), circulating Pb17Li flow rate and extraction efficiency of the tritium recovery unit. The parametric study is extended to the recovery unit in the case of tritium extraction by helium purge or vacuum degassing in a droplet spray unit. (orig.)

Investigation of heat treatment conditions of structural material for blanket fabrication process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirose, Takanori; Suzuki, Satoshi; Akiba, Masato; Shiba, Kiyoyuki; Sawai, Tomotsugu; Jitsukawa, Shiro

2004-01-01

This paper presents recent results of thermal hysteresis effects on ceramic breeder blanket structural material. Reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAF) steel is the leading candidates for the first wall structural materials of breeding blankets. RAF steel demonstrates superior resistance to high dose neutron irradiation, because the steel has tempered martensite structure which contains the number of sink site for radiation defects. This microstructure obtained by two-step heat treatment, first is normalizing at temperature above 1200 K and the second is tempering at temperature below 1100 K. Recent study revealed the thermal hysteresis has significant impacts on the post-irradiation mechanical properties. The breeding blanket has complicated structure, which consists of tungsten armor and thin first wall with cooling pipe. The blanket fabrication requires some high temperature joining processes. Especially hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is examined as a near-net-shape fabrication process for this structure. The process consists of heating above 1300 K and isostatic pressing at the pressure above 150 MPa followed by tempering. Moreover ceramics pebbles are packed into blanket module and the module is to be seamed by welding followed by post weld heat treatment in the final assemble process. Therefore the final microstructural features of RAFs strongly depend on the blanket fabrication process. The objective of this work is to evaluate the effects of thermal hysteresis corresponding to blanket fabrication process on RAFs microstructure in order to establish appropriate blanket fabrication process. Japanese RAFs F82H (Fe-0.1C-8Cr-2W-0.2V-0.05Ta) was investigated by metallurgical method after isochronal heat treatment up to 1473 K simulating high temperature bonding process. Although F82H showed significant grain growth after conventional solid HIP conditions (1313 K x 2 hr.), this coarse grained microstructure was refined by the post HIP normalizing at

Tritium transport and release from lithium ceramic breeder materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, C.E.; Kopasz, J.P.; Tam, S.W.

1994-01-01

In an operating fusion reactor,, the tritium breeding blanket will reach a condition in which the tritium release rate equals the production rate. The tritium release rate must be fast enough that the tritium inventory in the blanket does not become excessive. Slow tritium release will result in a large tritium inventory, which is unacceptable from both economic and safety viewpoints As a consequence, considerable effort has been devoted to understanding the tritium release mechanism from ceramic breeders and beryllium neutron multipliers through theoretical, laboratory, and in-reactor studies. This information is being applied to the development of models for predicting tritium release for various blanket operating conditions

A passively-safe fusion reactor blanket with helium coolant and steel structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Crosswait, Kenneth Mitchell [Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

1994-04-01

Helium is attractive for use as a fusion blanket coolant for a number of reasons. It is neutronically and chemically inert, nonmagnetic, and will not change phase during any off-normal or accident condition. A significant disadvantage of helium, however, is its low density and volumetric heat capacity. This disadvantage manifests itself most clearly during undercooling accident conditions such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or a loss of flow accident (LOFA). This thesis describes a new helium-cooled tritium breeding blanket concept which performs significantly better during such accidents than current designs. The proposed blanket uses reduced-activation ferritic steel as a structural material and is designed for neutron wall loads exceeding 4 MW/m{sup 2}. The proposed geometry is based on the nested-shell concept developed by Wong, but some novel features are used to reduce the severity of the first wall temperature excursion. These features include the following: (1) A ``beryllium-joint`` concept is introduced, which allows solid beryllium slabs to be used as a thermal conduction path from the first wall to the cooler portions of the blanket. The joint concept allows for significant swelling of the beryllium (10 percent or more) without developing large stresses in the blanket structure. (2) Natural circulation of the coolant in the water-cooled shield is used to maintain shield temperatures below 100 degrees C, thus maintaining a heat sink close to the blanket during the accident. This ensures the long-term passive safety of the blanket.

A review of prospects for an accelerator breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraser, J.S.; Hoffman, C.R.; Schriber, S.O.; Garvey, P.M.; Townes, B.M.

1981-12-01

The scientific feasibility, engineering practicability and economic prospects for an Accelerator Breeder are reviewed. The scientific feasibiliity of high power accelerator components rests on a firm basis as a result of technical advances made in recent years but there is a need to combine all components in a demonstration model working under realistic conditions. The engineering practicability of Accelerator Breeder components should be tested in a staged development culminating in a full-scale demonstration plant. The economic assessment depends on calculations of allowed and estimated capital costs of an Accelerator Breeder for a CANDU system operating on the Th-U fuel cycle. The results indicate that the ratio of estimated to allowed capital cost is approximately 3.5 for a breeder with a 2% enriched uranium metal blanket and for separated U235 valued at 48 $/g

Impact of material system thermomechanics and thermofluid performance on He-cooled ceramic breeder blanket designs with SiCf/SiC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ying, Alice Y.; Yokomine, Takehiko; Shimizu, Akihiko; Abdou, Mohamed; Kohyama, Akira

2004-01-01

This paper presents results from a recent effort initiated under the JUPITER-II collaborative program for high temperature gas-cooled blanket systems using SiC f /SiC as a structural material. Current emphasis is to address issues associated with the function of the helium gas considered in the DREAM and ARIES-I concepts by performing thermomechanical and thermofluid analysis. The objective of the analysis is to guide future research focus for a task in the project. It is found that the DREAM concept has the advantage of achieving uniform temperature without threatening blanket pebble bed integrity by differential thermal stress. However, its superiority needs to be further justified by investigating the feasibility and economic issues involved in the tritium extraction technology

Impact of material system thermomechanics and thermofluid performance on He-cooled ceramic breeder blanket designs with SiCf/SiC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ying, A.Y.; Abdou, M.; Yokomine, T.; Shimizu, A.; Kohyama, A.

2008-01-01

This paper presents results from a recent effort initiated under the JUPITER-II collaborative program for high temperature gas-cooled blanket systems using SiC/SiC as a structural material. Current emphasis is to address issues associated with the function of the helium gas considered in the DREAM and ARIES-I concepts by performing thermomechanical and thermofluid analysis. The objective of the analysis is to guide future research focus for a task in the project. It is found that the DREAM concept has the advantage of achieving uniform temperature without threatening blanket pebble bed integrity by differential thermal stress. However, its superiority needs to be further justified by investigating the feasibility and economic issues involved in the tritium extraction technology. (author)

Tritium inventory and permeation in the ITER breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Violante, V.; Tosti, S.; Sibilia, C.; Felli, F.; Casadio, S.; Alvani, C.

2000-01-01

A model has allowed us to perform the analysis of the tritium inventory and permeation in the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) breeding blanket under the hypothesis of steady state conditions. Li 2 ZrO 3 (reference) and Li 2 TiO 3 (alternative) have been studied as breeding materials. The total breeder inventory assessed is 7.64 g for the Li 2 ZrO 3 at reference temperature. The model has also been used for a parametric analysis of the tritium permeation. At reference temperature and purge helium velocity of 0.01 m/s, the HT partial pressure is ranging from 10 to 30 Pa in the breeder and 1.5x10 -3 Pa in the beryllium. At 0.1 m/s of purge helium velocity, the HT partial pressure is reduced of one order by magnitude in the breeder and becomes 5x10 -5 Pa in the beryllium. The tritium permeation into the coolant for the whole blanket is ranging from 100 to 250 mCi per day for purge helium velocity of 0.01 m/s. The analysis of the tritium inventory and permeation for the alternative Li 2 TiO 3 breeding material has been carried out too. The tritium inventory in the breeder is in the range from 6 to 375 g larger than in Li 2 ZrO 3 by about a factor 5; the tritium permeation into coolant is comparable to the Li 2 ZrO 3 one. This analysis provides indications on the influence of the operating parameters on the tritium control in the ITER breeding blanket; particularly the control of the tritium inventory by the temperature and the tritium permeation by the purge gas velocity

Thermo-mechanical characterization of ceramic pebbles for breeding blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lo Frano, Rosa, E-mail: rosa.lofrano@ing.unipi.it; Aquaro, Donato; Scaletti, Luca

2016-11-01

Highlights: • Experimental activities to characterize the Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}. • Compression tests of pebbles. • Experimental evaluation of thermal conductivity of pebbles bed at different temperatures. • Experimental test with/without compression load. - Abstract: An open issue for fusion power reactor is to design a suitable breeding blanket capable to produce the necessary quantity of the tritium and to transfer the energy of the nuclear fusion reaction to the coolant. The envisaged solution called Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) breeding blanket foresees the use of lithium orthosilicate (Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}) or lithium metatitanate (Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3}) pebble beds. The thermal mechanical properties of the candidate pebble bed materials are presently extensively investigated because they are critical for the feasibility and performances of the numerous conceptual designs which use a solid breeder. This study is aimed at the investigation of mechanical properties of the lithium orthosilicate and at the characterization of the main chemical, physical and thermo-mechanical properties taking into account the production technology. In doing that at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering (DICI) of the University of Pisa adequate experiments were carried out. The obtained results may contribute to characterize the material of the pebbles and to optimize the design of the envisaged fusion breeding blankets.

Influence of start up and pulsed operation on tritium release and inventory of NET ceramic blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Iseli, M.; Esser, B.

1989-01-01

A first estimate for the tritium release behaviour of a ceramic breeder blanket in pulsed operation is obtained by assuming a linear steady state temperature distribution and taking into account the time constant of the thermal behaviour. The release behaviour of the breeder exposed to consecutive periods of tritium generation is described with an analytical solution of the diffusion equation. The results are compared with a simple exponential approach valid for surfacte desorption controlled release. The exponential model is used to simulate a blanket with aluminate as breeder material, which takes longest to reach steady state. The simulation demonstrates that a significant fraction (>67%) of steady state can be achieved after a testing time of about one day. (author). 7 refs.; 8 figs.; 3 tabs

Experimental studies on tungsten-armor impact on nuclear responses of solid breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, S.; Nakao, M.; Verzilov, Y.; Ochiai, K.; Wada, M.; Kubota, N.; Kondo, K.; Yamauchi, M.; Enoeda, M.; Nishitani, T.

2005-01-01

In order to experimentally evaluate the tungsten armor impact on tritium production of the solid breeding blanket being developed by JAERI for tokamak-type DEMO reactors, neutronics integral experiments have been performed by using DT neutrons at Fusion Neutron Source (FNS) facility of JAERI. Solid breeding blanket mockups relevant to the DEMO blanket have been applied in this study. The mockups are constructed by a set of layers consisting of 0 - 25.2 mm thick tungsten, 16 mm thick F82H, 12 mm thick Li 2 TiO 3 and 100 - 200mm thick beryllium with cross-section of 660 x 660 mm in maximum. Pellets of Li 2 CO 3 are embedded inside the Li 2 TiO 3 layers to measure the tritium production rate. By installing the 5, 12.6 and 25.2 mm thick tungsten armors, sum of the integrated tritium productions at the pellets are reduced by about 2, 3 and 6 % relative to the case without the armor, respectively. Numerical calculations have been conducted using the Monte Carlo code. Calculation results for sum of the integrated tritium productions in the case with the tungsten armor agree well with the experiment data within 4% and 19% under condition without and with a neutron reflector, respectively. (author)

Impact analysis of the time trend of TBR and irradiation damage assessment of HCSB blanket for CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeng, Qin, E-mail: zengqin@ustc.edu.cn; Chen, Hongli; Lv, Zhongliang; Pan, Lei; Zhang, Haoran; Shi, Wei

2017-01-15

Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR) is a test tokamak reactor to bridge the gap between ITER and future fusion power plants and to demonstrate generation of fusion power in China. In fusion power plants, tritium is generated from the reaction of neutron and Lithium. One of the missions of CFETR is the full cycle of tritium self-sufficiency. For the mission, a Helium Cooled Solid Breeder blanket (HCSB) was proposed for CFETR and its conceptual design has been carried out. In order to assess the capacity of the tritium breeding and irradiation damage of first wall of the HCSB blanket during the 8 years’ engineering test stage, this paper presents the time trend of TBR analysis and irradiation damage assessment of HCSB blanket based on the three-dimensional (3D) neutronics model which is created by McCad. In the 3D neutronics model, the outboard blanket on equatorial plane is described based on the detailed 3D engineering model. The calculations were performed by MCNP and FISPACT with FENDL/2.1 data library. The impact analysis of the thickness of coolant plates (CP) and the structural material content in CPs to the TBR is assessment.

Conceptual design and neutronics analyses of a fusion reactor blanket simulation facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beller, D.E.; Ott, K.O.; Terry, W.K.

1987-01-01

A new conceptual design of a fusion reactor blanket simulation facility has been developed. This design follows the principles that have been successfully employed in the Purdue Fast Breeder Blanket Facility (FBBF), where experiments have resulted in the discovery of substantial deficiencies in neutronics predictions. With this design, discrepancies between calculation and experimental data can be nearly fully attributed to calculation methods because design deficiencies that could affect results are insignificant. The conceptual design of this FBBF analog, the Fusion Reactor Blanket Facility, is presented

First wall/blanket/shield design and power conversion for the ARIES-IV tokamak fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hasan, M.Z.; Conn, R.W.; Najmabadi, F.

1994-01-01

ARIES-IV is a conceptual, D-T burning, steady-state tokamak fusion reactor producing 1000 MWe net. It operates in the second plasma stability regime. The structural material is SiC composite and the primary coolant is helium at 10 MPa base pressure. The coolant flows poloidally in two loops, one inboard and one outboard. The coolant channels are circular tubes that form shells and are placed between two purge plates; the space between two adjacent tubes and the plate is purge gas flow area. The solid breeder is Li 2 O, and Be is used as neutron multiplier to ensure adequate TBR. Beryllium and Li 2 O are placed in between the adjacent tube shells. A computer code was developed to perform and optimize thermal-hydraulic design. Minimization of blanket thickness and the amount of Be, and the maximization of breeder zone thickness were done by iteration with neutronics. The gross thermal efficiency is 49%. The cost of electricity is 68 mills/kWh. The use of low activation SiC composite as the structural material, Li 2 O as the solid breeder, and avoidance of tungsten in the divertor has resulted in a good safety performance, and LSA rating of 1. Overall, SiC/He/Li 2 O ARIES-IV design is expected to have attractive economic and safety advantages

European TBM for ITER: Structural material assessment and breeding capability - Comparative analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herreras, Y.; Perlado, J.M.; Ibarra, A.

2007-01-01

Full text of publication follows: The ITER European Party is currently developing for DEMO reactor specifications two breeding blanket concepts: the Helium-Cooled Lithium-Lead blanket (HCLL), using a liquid breeder; and the Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed blanket (HCPB), using a lithiated solid breeder. These two research lines are expected to be tested in ITER as Test Blanket Modules (TBM), in order to demonstrate their safety, economical and environmental suitability. In this sense, structural material activation and breeding blanket capability represent two major challenges. This paper presents new calculations regarding neutronic irradiation inside the ITER Vacuum Vessel. In particular, results are focused on the irradiation affecting the equatorial ports, where the TBM will be located for testing. The methodology employed mainly consists in calculating the neutronic irradiation levels at the required locations with the transport code MCNP, where the input geometry has been previously designed with the program CATIA V5. The main structural materials proposed for the European Test blanket Modules are selected in order to carry out a comparative analysis in safety terms: material activation and basic parameters for damage analysis are evaluated with the code ACAB, based on the neutronic irradiation results mentioned above. Finally, the breeding blanket capability is assessed for both breeding blanket concepts; the results are compared considering the choice of the structural material. (authors)

Experimental program for the Fast Breeder Blanket Facility, FBBF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ott, K.O.; Clikeman, F.M.; Johnson, R.H.; Borg, R.C.

1976-01-01

The work performed in the reporting period was primarily concerned with the development of the experimental program (Task A) and with the pre-analysis of future loadings and the impact upon the permanent loading of the two converter regions, which contain 4.8 percent enriched UO 2 rods. It appears necessary that a neutron poison (B 4 C) be placed in the converter (transformer) regions in order to hold, also for future loadings, the k/sub eff/ of a hypothetically flooded FBBF well below 1. Since it is planned to use the same welded converter regions for all experiments, the required B 4 C loading needs to be determined prior to the first blanket loading. Further the equipment needs have been identified (Task D), the 252 Cf-source has been requested on a loan basis (Task E). First discussions with ANL on blanket experiments have been initiated

Drucker-Prager-Cap creep modelling of pebble beds in fusion blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hofer, D.; Kamlah, M.

2005-01-01

Modelling of thermal and mechanical behaviour of pebble beds for fusion blankets is an important issue to understand the interaction of solid breeder and beryllium pebble beds with the surrounding structural material. Especially the differing coefficients of thermal expansion of these materials cause high stresses and strains during irradiation induced volumetric heating. To describe this process, the coupled thermomechanical behaviour of both pebble bed materials has to be modelled. Additionally, creep has to be considered contributing to bed deformations and stress relaxation. Motivated by experiments, we use a continuum mechanical approach called Drucker-Prager/Cap theory to model the macroscopic pebble bed behaviour. The model accounts for pressure dependent shear failure, inelastic hardening, and volumetric creep. The elastic part is described by a nonlinear elasticity law. The model has been implemented by user-defined routines in the commercial finite-element code ABAQUS. To check the numerics, the implementation is compared to an analytical solution. Furthermore, the Drucker-Prager/Cap tool is applied to a single ceramic breeder bed subject to creep under volumetric heating

ITER shielding blanket

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strebkov, Yu [ENTEK, Moscow (Russian Federation); Avsjannikov, A [ENTEK, Moscow (Russian Federation); Baryshev, M [NIAT, Moscow (Russian Federation); Blinov, Yu [ENTEK, Moscow (Russian Federation); Shatalov, G [KIAE, Moscow (Russian Federation); Vasiliev, N [KIAE, Moscow (Russian Federation); Vinnikov, A [ENTEK, Moscow (Russian Federation); Chernjagin, A [DYNAMICA, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1995-03-01

A reference non-breeding blanket is under development now for the ITER Basic Performance Phase for the purpose of high reliability during the first stage of ITER operation. More severe operation modes are expected in this stage with first wall (FW) local heat loads up to 100-300Wcm{sup -2}. Integration of a blanket design with protective and start limiters requires new solutions to achieve high reliability, and possible use of beryllium as a protective material leads to technologies. The rigid shielding blanket concept was developed in Russia to satisfy the above-mentioned requirements. The concept is based on a copper alloy FW, austenitic stainless steel blanket structure, water cooling. Beryllium protection is integrated in the FW design. Fabrication technology and assembly procedure are described in parallel with the equipment used. (orig.).

Comprehensive structural analysis of the HCPB demo blanket under thermal, mechanical, electromagnetic and radiation induced loads

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boccaccini, L.V.; Norajitra, P.; Ruatto, P.; Scaffidi-Argentina, F.

1998-01-01

For the helium-cooled pebble bed (HCPB) blanket, which is one of the two reference concepts studied within the European Demo Development Program, a comprehensive finite element (FEM) structural analysis has been performed. The analysis refers to the steady-state operating conditions of an outboard blanket segment. On the basis of a three-dimensional model of radial-toroidal sections of the segment box, thermal stresses caused by the temperature gradients in the blanket structure have been calculated. Furthermore, the mechanical loads due to coolant pressure in normal operating conditions as well as an accidental over-pressurization of the blanket box have been accounted for. The stresses caused by a central plasma major disruption from an initial current of 20 MA to zero in 20 ms have been also taken into account. Radiation-induced dimensional changes of breeder and multiplier material caused by both helium production and neutron damage, have also been evaluated and discussed. All the above loads have been combined as input for a FEM stress analysis and the resulting stress distribution has been evaluated according to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) norms. (orig.)

The TFTR lithium blanket module program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jassby, D.L.; Bertone, P.C.; Creedon, R.L.; File, J.; Graumann, D.W.

1985-01-01

The Lithium Blanket Module (LBM) is an approximately 80X80X80 cm cubic module, representative of a helium-cooled lithium oxide fusion reactor blanket module, that will be installed on the TFTR (Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor) in late 1986. The principal objective of the LBM Program is to perform a series of neutron transport and tritium-breeding measurements throughout the LBM when it is exposed to the TFTR toroidal fusion neutron source, and to compare these data with the predictions of Monte Carlo (MCNP) neutronics codes. The LBM consists of 920 2.5-cm diameter breeder rods constructed of lithium oxide (Li 2 O) pellets housed in thin-walled stainless steel tubes. Procedures for mass-producing 25,000 Li 2 O pellets with satisfactory reproducibility were developed using purified Li 2 O powder, and fabrication of all the breeder rods was completed in early 1985. Tritium assay methods were investigated experimentally using both small lithium metal samples and LBM-type pellets. This work demonstrated that the thermal extraction method will be satisfactory for accurate evaluation of the minute concentrations of tritium expected in the LBM pellets (0.1-1nCi/g)

Neutronic analysis of the European reference design of the water cooled lithium lead blanket for a DEMOnstration reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrizzi, L.

1994-01-01

Water cooled lithium lead blankets, using liquid Pb-17Li eutectic both as breeder and neutron multiplier material, and martensitic steel as structural material, represent one of the four families under development in the European DEMO blanket programme. Two concepts were proposed, both reaching tritium breeding self-sufficiency: the 'box-shaped' and the 'cylindrical modules'. Also to this scope a new concept has been defined: 'the single box'. A neutronic analysis of the 'single box' is presented. A full 3-D model including the whole assembly and many of the reactor details (divertors, holes, gaps) has been defined, together with a 3-D neutron source. A tritium breeding ration (TBR) value of 1.19 confirms the tritium breeding self-sufficiency of the design. Selected power densities, calculated for the different materials and zones, are here presented. Some shielding capability considerations with respect to the toroidal field coil system are presented too. (author) 10 refs.; 3 figs.; 3 tabs

Trade-off study of liquid metal self-cooled blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

1986-01-01

A trade-off study of liquid metal self-cooled blankets was carried out to define the performance of these blankets and to determine the potential to operate at the maximum possible values of the performance parameters. The main parameters considered during the course of this study were the tritium breeding ratio (TBR), the blanket energy multiplication factor, the energy fraction lost to the shield, the lithium-6 enrichment in the breeder material, the total blanket thickness, the reflector material selection, and the compositions of the different blanket zones. The primary results of the study are as follows: a) the lithium-lead blanket achieves a higher TBR with a smaller blanket thickness relative to the lithium blanket; b) the lithium blanket generates more energy per fusion neutron relative to the lithium-lead blanket; c) among the possible reflector materials, the carbon reflector produces the highest TBR; d) the high-Z reflector materials (Mo, Cu, W, or steel) generate more energy per fusion neutron and produce smaller TBRs relative to the carbon reflector; e) lithium-6 enrichment is required for the lithium-lead blanket to reduce the total blanket thickness; and f) the energy deposition per fusion neutron reaches a saturation as the blanket thickness, the fraction of the high-Z material in the reflector, or the reflector zone thickness increases (this allows one to design the blanket for a specific TBR without reducing the energy production)

Experimental studies on tungsten-armour impact on nuclear responses of solid breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Satoshi; Nakao, Makoto; Verzilov, Yury; Ochiai, Kentaro; Wada, Masayuki; Kubota, Naoyoshi; Kondo, Keitaro; Yamauchi, Michinori; Nishitani, Takeo

2005-01-01

In order to experimentally evaluate the tungsten armour impact on tritium production of the solid breeding blanket being developed by JAERI for tokamak-type DEMO reactors, neutronics integral experiments have been performed using DT neutrons at the Fusion Neutron Source facility of JAERI. Solid breeding blanket mockups relevant to the DEMO blanket have been applied in this study. The mockups are made of a set of layers consisting of 0-25.2 mm thick tungsten, 16 mm thick F82H, 12 mm thick Li 2 TiO 3 and 100-200 mm thick beryllium with a cross-section of 660 x 660 mm in maximum. Pellets of Li 2 CO 3 are embedded in the Li 2 TiO 3 layers to measure the tritium production rate. By installing the 5 mm, 12.6 mm and 25.2 mm thick tungsten armours, the sum of the integrated tritium productions at the pellets are reduced by about 2.1%, 2.5% and 6.1% relative to the case without the armour, respectively. Numerical calculations have been conducted using the Monte Carlo code. In the case of the mockups with the tungsten armour, calculation results for the sum of the integrated tritium productions agree well with the experimental data within 4% and 19% in the experiments without and with a neutron reflector, respectively

Experimental studies on tungsten-armour impact on nuclear responses of solid breeding blanket

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Satoshi; Nakao, Makoto; Verzilov, Yury; Ochiai, Kentaro; Wada, Masayuki; Kubota, Naoyoshi; Kondo, Keitaro; Yamauchi, Michinori; Nishitani, Takeo

2005-07-01

In order to experimentally evaluate the tungsten armour impact on tritium production of the solid breeding blanket being developed by JAERI for tokamak-type DEMO reactors, neutronics integral experiments have been performed using DT neutrons at the Fusion Neutron Source facility of JAERI. Solid breeding blanket mockups relevant to the DEMO blanket have been applied in this study. The mockups are made of a set of layers consisting of 0-25.2 mm thick tungsten, 16 mm thick F82H, 12 mm thick Li2TiO3 and 100-200 mm thick beryllium with a cross-section of 660 × 660 mm in maximum. Pellets of Li2CO3 are embedded in the Li2TiO3 layers to measure the tritium production rate. By installing the 5 mm, 12.6 mm and 25.2 mm thick tungsten armours, the sum of the integrated tritium productions at the pellets are reduced by about 2.1%, 2.5% and 6.1% relative to the case without the armour, respectively. Numerical calculations have been conducted using the Monte Carlo code. In the case of the mockups with the tungsten armour, calculation results for the sum of the integrated tritium productions agree well with the experimental data within 4% and 19% in the experiments without and with a neutron reflector, respectively.

Status of fusion reactor blanket design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, D.L.; Sze, D.K.

1986-02-01

The recent Blanket Comparison and Selection Study (BCSS), which was a comprehensive evaluation of fusion reactor blanket design and the status of blanket technology, serves as an excellent basis for further development of blanket technology. This study provided an evaluation of over 130 blanket concepts for the reference case of electric power producing, DT fueled reactors in both Tokamak and Tandem Mirror (TMR) configurations. Based on a specific set of reactor operating parameters, the current understanding of materials and blanket technology, and a uniform evaluation methodology developed as part of the study, a limited number of concepts were identified that offer the greatest potential for making fusion an attractive energy source

A methodology for accident analysis of fusion breeder blankets and its application to helium-cooled lead–lithium blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panayotov, Dobromir; Poitevin, Yves; Grief, Andrew; Trow, Martin; Dillistone, Michael

2016-01-01

'Fusion for Energy' (F4E) is designing, developing, and implementing the European Helium-Cooled Lead-Lithium (HCLL) and Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed (HCPB) Test Blanket Systems (TBSs) for ITER (Nuclear Facility INB-174). Safety demonstration is an essential element for the integration of these TBSs into ITER and accident analysis is one of its critical components. A systematic approach to accident analysis has been developed under the F4E contract on TBS safety analyses. F4E technical requirements, together with Amec Foster Wheeler and INL efforts, have resulted in a comprehensive methodology for fusion breeding blanket accident analysis that addresses the specificity of the breeding blanket designs, materials, and phenomena while remaining consistent with the approach already applied to ITER accident analyses. Furthermore, the methodology phases are illustrated in the paper by its application to the EU HCLL TBS using both MELCOR and RELAP5 codes.

Fission-suppressed hybrid reactor: the fusion breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moir, R.W.; Lee, J.D.; Coops, M.S.

1982-12-01

Results of a conceptual design study of a 233 U-producing fusion breeder are presented. The majority of the study was devoted to conceptual design and evaluation of a fission-suppressed blanket and to fuel cycle issues such as fuel reprocessing, fuel handling, and fuel management. Studies in the areas of fusion engineering, reactor safety, and economics were also performed

Preconceptual engineering design for the APT 3He Target/Blanket concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mensink, D.L.

1994-01-01

A preconceptual engineering design has been developed for the 3 He Target/Blanket (T/B) System for the Accelerator Production of Tritium Project. This concept uses an array of pressure tubes containing tungsten rods for the neutron spallation source and 3 He gas contained in a metal tank and blanket tubes as the tritium production material. The engineering design is based on a physics model optimized for efficient tritium production. Principle engineering consideration were: provisions for cooling all materials including the 3 He gas; containment of the gas and radionuclides; remote handling; material compatibility; minimization of 3 He, D 2 O, and activated waste; modularity; and manufacturability. The design provides a basis for estimating the cost to implement the system

Isotope exchange reactions on ceramic breeder materials and their effect on tritium inventory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nishikawa, M; Baba, A [Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Faculty of Engineering; Kawamura, Y; Nishi, M

1998-03-01

Though lithium ceramic materials such as Li{sub 2}O, LiAlO{sub 2}, Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3}, Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} and Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} are considered as breeding materials in the blanket of a D-T fusion reactor, the release behavior of the bred tritium in these solid breeder materials has not been fully understood. The isotope exchange reaction rate between hydrogen isotopes in the purge gas and tritium on the surface of breeding materials have not been quantified yet, although helium gas with hydrogen or deuterium is planned to be used as the blanket purge gas in the recent blanket designs. The mass transfer coefficient representing the isotope exchange reaction between H{sub 2} and D{sub 2}O or that between D{sub 2} and H{sub 2}O in the ceramic breeding materials bed is experimentally obtained in this study. Effects of isotope exchange reactions on the tritium inventory in the bleeding blanket is discussed based on data obtained in this study where effects of diffusion of tritium in the grain, absorption of water in the bulk of grain, and adsorption of water on the surface of grain, together with two types of isotope exchange reactions are considered. The way to estimate the tritium inventory in a Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} blanket used in this study shows a good agreement with data obtained in such in-situ experiments as MOZART, EXOTIC-5, 6 and TRINE experiments. (author)

Investigation of aqueous slurries as fusion reactor blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schuller, M.J.

1985-01-01

Numerical and experimental studies were carried out to assess the feasibility of using an aqueous slurry, with lithium in its solid component, to meet the tritium breeding, cooling, and shielding requirements of a controlled thermonuclear reactor (CTR). The numerical studies were designed to demonstrate the theoretical ability of a conceptual slurry blanket to breed adequate tritium to sustain the CTR. The experimental studies were designed to show that the tritium retention characteristics of likely solid components for the slurry were conducive to adequate tritium recovery without the need for isotopic separation. The numerical portion of this work consisted in part of using ANISN, a one-dimensional finite difference neutron transport code, to model the neutronic performance of the slurry blanket concept. The parameters governing tritium production and retention in a slurry were computed and used to modify the results of the ANISN computer runs. The numerical work demonstrated that the slurry blanket was only marginally capable of breeding sufficient tritium without the aid of a neutron multiplying region. The experimental portion of this work consisted of several neutron irradiation experiments, which were designed to determine the retention abilities of LiF particles

Review: BNL Tokamak graphite blanket design concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fillo, J.A.; Powell, J.R.

1976-01-01

The BNL minimum activity graphite blanket designs are reviewed, and three are discussed in the context of an experimental power reactor (EPR) and commercial power reactor. Basically, the three designs employ a 30 cm or thicker graphite screen. Bremsstrahlung energy is deposited on the graphite surface and re-radiated away as thermal radiation. Fast neutrons are slowed down in the graphite, depositing most of their energy, which is then radiated to a secondary blanket with coolant tubes, as in types A and B, or removed by intermittent direct gas cooling (type C). In types A and B, radiation damage to the coolant tubes in the secondary blanket is reduced by one or two orders of magnitude, while in type C, the blanket is only cooled when the reactor is shut down, so that coolant cannot quench the plasma. (Auth.)

Ceramic BOT type blanket with poloidal helium cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cardella, A.; Daenenr, W.; Iseli, M.; Ferrari, M.; Gallina, M.; Rado, V.; Simbolotti, G.; Violante, V.

1989-01-01

This paper briefly describes the work done and results achieved over the past two years on the ceramic breeder BOT blanket with poloidal helium cooling. A conclusive remark on the brick/plate option described previously is followed by short descriptions of the low and high performance pebble bed options elaborated as alternatives for both NET and DEMO. The results show, togethre with those about the poloidal cooling of the First Wall, good prospects for this blanket type provided that the questions connected wiht an extensive use of beryllium find a satisfactor answer. (author). 5 refs.; 7 figs.; 1 tab

Materials for breeding blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattas, R.F.; Billone, M.C.

1995-09-01

There are several candidate concepts for tritium breeding blankets that make use of a number of special materials. These materials can be classified as Primary Blanket Materials, which have the greatest influence in determining the overall design and performance, and Secondary Blanket Materials, which have key functions in the operation of the blanket but are less important in establishing the overall design and performance. The issues associated with the blanket materials are specified and several examples of materials performance are given. Critical data needs are identified

Materials for breeding blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattas, R.F.; Billone, M.C.

1996-01-01

There are several candidate concepts for tritium breeding blankets that make use of a number of special materials. These materials can be classified as primary blanket materials, which have the greatest influence in determining the overall design and performance, and secondary blanket materials, which have key functions in the operation of the blanket but are less important in establishing the overall design and performance. The issues associated with the blanket materials are specified and several examples of materials performance are given. Critical data needs are identified. (orig.)

Evaluation of alternative methods of simulating asymmetric bulk heating in fusion reactor blanket/shield components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deis, G.A.; Longhurst, G.R.; Miller, L.G.; Wadkins, R.P.; Wessol, D.E.

1981-10-01

As a part of Phase O, Test Program Element-II of the Office of Fusion Energy First Wall/Blanket/Shield Engineering Test Program, a study was conducted by EG and G Idaho, Inc., to identify, characterize, and recommend alternative approaches for simulating fusion bulk heating in blanket/shield components. This is the report on that effort. Since the usefulness of any simulation approach depends upon the particular experiment considered, classes of problem types (thermal-hydraulic, thermomechanical, etc.) and material types (structure, solid breeder, etc.) are developed. The evaluation of the various simulation approaches is performed for the various significant combinations of problem class and material class. The simulation approaches considered are discrete-source heating, direct resistance, electromagnetic induction, microwave heating, and nuclear heating. From the evaluations performed for each experiment type, discrete - source heating emerges as a good approach for bulk heating simulation in thermal - hydraulics experiments, and nuclear heating appears to be a good approach in experiments addressing thermomechanics and combined thermal-hydraulic/thermomechanics

Development of high performance core for large fast breeder reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, Kotaro; Kawashima, Katsuyuki; Watari, Yoshio.

1982-01-01

Subsequently to the fast breeder prototype reactor ''Monju'', the construction of a demonstration reactor with 1000 MWe output is planned. This research aims at the establishment of the concept of a large core with excellent fuel breeding property and safety for a demonstration and commercial reactors. For the purpose, the optimum specification of fuel design as a large core was clarified, and the new construction of a core was examined, in which a disk-shaped blanket with thin peripheral edge is introduced at the center of a core. As the result, such prospect was obtained that the time for fuel doubling would be 1/2, and the energy generated in a core collapse accident would be about 1/5 as compared with a large core using the same fuel as ''Monju''. Generally, as a core is enlarged, the rate of breeding lowers. If a worst core collapse accident occurs, the scale of accident will be very large in the case of a ''Monju'' type large core. In an unhomogeneous core, an internal blanket is provided in the core for the purpose of improving the breeding property and safety. Hitachi Ltd. developed the concept of a large core unhomogeneous in axial direction and proposed it. The research on the fuel design for a large core, an unhomogeneous core and its core collapse accident is reported. (Kako, I.)

Beryllium and lithium resource requirements for solid blanket designs for fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powell, J.R.

1975-01-01

The lithium and beryllium requirements are analyzed for an economy of 10 6 MW(e) CTR 3 capacity using solid blanket fusion reactors. The total lithium inventory in fusion reactors is only approximately 0.2 percent of projected U. S. resources. The lithium inventory in the fusion reactors is almost entirely 6 Li, which must be extracted from natural lithium. Approximately 5 percent of natural lithium can be extracted as 6 Li. Thus the total feed of natural lithium required is approximately 20 times that actually used in fusion reactors, or approximately 4 percent of U. S. resources. Almost all of this feed is returned to the U. S. resource base after 6 Li is extracted, however. The beryllium requirements are on the order of 10 percent of projected U. S. resources. Further, the present cost of lithium and the cost of beryllium extraction could both be increased tenfold with only minor effects on CTR capital cost. Such an increase should substantially multiply the economically recoverable resources of lithium and beryllium. It is concluded that there are no lithium or beryllium resource limitations preventing large-scale implementation of solid blanket fusion reactors. (U.S.)

Concept evaluation of nuclear fusion driven symbiotic energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renier, J.P.; Hoffman, T.J.

1979-01-01

This paper analyzes systems based on D-T and semi-catalyzed D-D fusion-powered U233 breeders. Two different blanket types were used: metallic thorium pebble-bed blankets with a batch reprocessing mode and a molten salt blanket with on-line continuous or batch reprocessing. All fusion-driven blankets are assumed to have spherical geometries, with a 85% closure. Neutronics depletion calculations were performed with a revised version of the discrete ordinates code XSDRN-PM, using multigroup (100 neutron, 21 gamma-ray groups) coupled cross-section libraries. These neutronics calculations are coupled with a scenario optimization and cost analysis code. Also, the fusion burn was shaped so as to keep the blanket maximum power density below a preset value, and to improve the performance of the fusion-driven systems. The fusion-driven symbiotes are compared with LMFBR-driven energy systems. The nuclear fission breeders that were used as drivers have parameters characteristic of heterogeneous, oxide LMFBRs. They are net plutonium users - the plutonium is obtained from the discharges of LWRs - and U233 is bred in the fission breeder thorium blankets. The analyses of the symbiotic energy systems were performed at equilibrium, at maximum rate of grid expansion, and for a given nuclear power demand

Design development and manufacturing sequence of the European water-cooled Pb-17Li test blanket module

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Futterer, M.A.; Bielak, B.; Deffain, J.P.; Giancarli, L.; Li Puma, A.; Salavy, J.F.; Szczepanski, J. [CEA Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France). FDRN/DMT/SERMA; Dellis, C. [CEA Grenoble, DTA-CEREM/SGM, Grenoble (France); Nardi, C. [ENEA Frascati, ERG-FUS-TECN-MEC, Frascati (Italy); Schleisiek, K. [Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH Technik und Umwelt (Germany). Inst. fuer Reaktorsicherheit

1998-09-01

In 1996, the European Community started the development of a water-cooled Pb17Li blanket test module for ITER. First tests are currently scheduled to start with the beginning of the basic performance phase prior to D-T operation. The test module is designed to be a representative for a DEMO breeding blanket and relies on the liquid alloy Pb-17Li as both tritium breeder and neutron multiplier material, and water at PWR pressure and temperature as coolant. The structural material is martensitic steel. The straight, box-like structure of this blanket confines a pool of liquid Pb-17Li which is slowly circulated for ex-situ tritium extraction and lithium adjustment. The box and the Pb-17Li pool are separately cooled, the former with toroido-radial tubes, the latter with a bundle of double-walled U-tubes, equally made of martensitic steel and equipped with a permeation barrier. This paper presents the latest design and three manufacturing schemes with different degrees of technology. Advanced techniques such as solid or powder HIP are proposed to provide design flexibility. With a 3D neutronics analysis, the power and tritium generation were determined. (orig.) 11 refs.

ARIES-IV Nested Shell Blanket Design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; Redler, K.; Reis, E.E.; Will, R.; Cheng, E.; Hasan, C.M.; Sharafat, S.

1993-11-01

The ARIES-IV Nested Shell Blanket (NSB) Design is an alternate blanket concept of the ARIES-IV low activation helium-cooled reactor design. The reference design has the coolant routed in the poloidal direction and the inlet and outlet plena are located at the top and bottom of the torus. The NSB design has the high velocity coolant routed in the toroidal direction and the plena are located behind the blanket. This is of significance since the selected structural material is SiC-composite. The NSB is designed to have key high performance components with characteristic dimensions of no larger than 2 m. These components can be brazed to form the blanket module. For the diverter design, we eliminated the use of W as the divertor coating material by relying on the successful development of the gaseous divertor concept. The neutronics and thermal-hydraulic performance of both blanket concepts are similar. The selected blanket and divertor configurations can also meet all the projected structural, neutronics and thermal-hydraulics design limits and requirements. With the selected blanket and divertor materials, the design has a level of safety assurance rate of I (LSA-1), which indicates an inherently safe design

Optimization of mass-production conditions for tritium breeder pebbles based on slurry droplet wetting method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Yi-Hyun, E-mail: yhpark@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Min, Kyung-Mi; Ahn, Mu-Young; Cho, Seungyon; Lee, Young-Min [National Fusion Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sang-Jin; Danish, Rehan; Lim, Chul-Hwan; Jo, Yong-Dae [IVT Co., Ltd., Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • An automatic dispensing system was developed to improve uniformity and production rate of breeder pebbles. • The production rate of this system for Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble was estimated at 50 kg/year. • The optimization of dispensing and sintering conditions for the mass-production of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble was conducted. • Integrity of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble was able to be ensured during mass-production process, especially during batch process. - Abstract: Lithium metatitanate (Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3}) is being considered as tritium breeding material for solid-type breeding blanket, which are used in pebble-bed form. The total amount of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles in Helium Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) Test Blanket Module (TBM) is approximately 80 kg. Furthermore, DEMO reactor requires a great deal of breeder pebbles. Therefore, the development of mass-production system for breeder pebbles is necessary. The slurry droplet wetting method was adopted in the mass-production process for Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles, which had been developed in Korea. In this method, an automatic slurry dispensing system is one of the key apparatuses because the uniformity of pebbles and production rate are able to be improved. The system was successfully manufactured, which was consisted of a dispensing unit for instillation of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} slurry, a glycerin bath for hardening of droplets, and an automatic maintaining unit for constant distance between syringe needle and glycerin surface. The production rate of this system for Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble was estimated at 50 kg/year. In this study, it was investigated that the effect of dispensing and sintering conditions on the mass-production of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles.

A low-risk aqueous lithium salt blanket for engineering test reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gierszewski, P.

1986-09-01

A simple blanket concept is proposed based on 1-3 wt.% lithium dissolved as a salt in low temperature (80 degrees C) and low pressure (0.1 MPa) water. This concept can provide, for example, a 0.5 tritium breeding ratio with 60% steel structure and 70% coverage. The use of neutron multipliers, other structural materials (especially zirconium alloys), higher coverage and higher lithium salt concentrations allows tritium breeding ratios over unity if necessary. Other advantages of this concept include the simple shield-like geometry, substantial structural volume for mechanical strength, excellent heat transfer ability of water coolant, efficient neutron and gamma shielding through the combination of high-Z structure and low-Z water, and conventional tritium recovery and control technology. This concept could initially provide the shielding needs for an engineering test reactor and later, by the addition of lithium salt and tritium recovery systems, also provide tritium breeding. This staged operation and liquid breeder/coolant allows control over the tritium inventory in the device without machine disassembly. 14 refs

Potential use of thorium through fusion breeders in the Indian context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srinivasan, M.; Basu, T.K.; Subba Rao, K.

1991-01-01

The Indian Nuclear Programme is based on a three stage strategy: the first stage of about 10 GWe comprises of natural uranium fuelled Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs); the second stage would consist of Liquid Metal Cooled Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) to be fuelled with plutonium generated in the first stage PHWRs and the third stage is envisaged to be based on advanced converters/breeders operating on the Th/U-233 cycle. It has generally been assumed that the initial inventory of U-233 for the third stage reactors would be generated in the blankets of LMFBRs containing thorium. But the success of this strategy depends crucially on the attainment of LMFBR doubling times as short as 14 years. The progress registered in recent years in the magnetic confinement of fusion plasmas has opened up the prospects of developing Fusion Breeders for the direct conversion of fertile 232 Th into fissile 233 U using the 14 MeV neutron released in the (D-T) fusion reaction. A detailed study of the dependence of the 233 U production characteristics as well as energy cost of fissile fuel production of such systems on parameters such as plasma energy gain Q, blanket neutron multiplication has been carried out. The growth rate dynamics of the symbiotic combination of 233 U generating fusion breeders with PHWRs operating on the Th/U-233 cycle in the so called near-breeder regime has been examined. 95% of the energy generated by PHWRs operating with Th/ 233 U fuel would arise from thorium consumption rather than fission of the initially loaded 233 U. A few sub-engineering breakeven fusion breeders producing U-233 at an energy cost well under 200 MeV per atom are adequate to give the requisite nuclear capacity growth rates in conjunction with such near breeder PHWRs. This corresponds to only a 5% diversion of the grid electrical power for the operation of such fusion breeders. In summary the symbiotic combination of a few fusion breeders with a number of PHWRs gives fresh hopes

Breeding blanket for Demo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Proust, E.; Giancarli, L.

1992-01-01

This paper presents the main design features, their rationale, and the main critical issues for the development, of the four DEMO-relevant blanket concepts presently investigated within the framework of the European Test-Blanket Development Programme

Cassette blanket and vacuum building: key elements in fusion reactor maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Werner, R.W.

1977-01-01

The integration of two concepts important to fusion power reactors is discussed. The first concept is the vacuum building which improves upon the current fusion reactor designs. The second concept, the use of the cassette blanket within the vacuum building environment, introduces four major improvements in blanket design: cassette blanket module, zoning concept, rectangular blanket concept, and internal tritium recovery

ITER breeding blanket module design and analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuroda, Toshimasa; Enoeda, Mikio; Kikuchi, Shigeto [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Naka, Ibaraki (Japan). Naka Fusion Research Establishment] [and others

1998-11-01

The ITER breeding blanket employs a ceramic breeder and Be neutron multiplier both in small spherical pebble form. Radial-poloidal cooling panels are arranged in the blanket box to remove the nuclear heating in these materials and to reinforce the blanket structure. At the first wall, Be armor is bonded onto the stainless steel (SS) structure to provide a low Z plasma-compatible surface and to protect the first wall/blanket structure from the direct contact with the plasma during off-normal events. Thermo-mechanical analyses and investigation of fabrication procedure have been performed for this breeding blanket. To evaluate thermo-mechanical behavior of the pebble beds including the dependency of the effective thermal conductivity on stress, analysis methods have been preliminary established by the use of special calculation option of ABAQUS code, which are briefly summarized in this report. The structural response of the breeding blanket module under internal pressure of 4 MPa (in case of in-blanket LOCA) resulted in rather high stress in the blanket side (toroidal end) wall, thus addition of a stiffening rib or increase of the wall thickness will be needed. Two-dimensional elasto-plastic analyses have been performed for the Be/SS bonded interface at the first wall taking a fabrication process based on HIP bonding and thermal cycle due to pulsed plasma operation into account. The stress-strain hysteresis during these process and operation was clarified, and a procedure to assess and/or confirm the bonding integrity was also proposed. Fabrication sequence of the breeding blanket module was preliminarily developed based on the procedure to fabricate part by part and to assemble them one by one. (author)

The Test Blanket Modules project in Europe: From the strategy to the technical plan over next ten years

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poitevin, Y.; Zmitko, M.; Orco, G. dell; Laesser, R.; Diegele, E.; Sundstroem, J.; Boccaccini, L.; Salavy, J.-F.

2006-01-01

The testing of Breeding Blanket concepts in ITER is recognized as an essential milestone in the development of a future reactor ensuring tritium self-sufficiency, extraction of high grade heat and electricity production. Europe is currently developing two reference breeding blankets for DEMO reactor specifications that will be tested in ITER: the Helium-Cooled Lithium-Lead (HCLL) blanket which uses the eutectic Pb-15. 7 Li as both breeder and neutron multiplier, and the Helium-Cooled Pebble-Bed (HCPB) blanket which features lithiated ceramic pebbles (Li 4 SiO 4 or Li 2 TiO 3 ) as breeder and beryllium pebbles as neutron multiplier. Both blankets are using the pressurized He technology for heat extraction (8 MPa, inlet/outlet temperature 300/500 o C) and a 9% CrWVTa Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic (RAFM) steel as structural material, the EUROFER. Referring to the so called '' fast-track '' EU scenario, those concepts are intended to be tested in ITER, getting the maximum of information required for launching the DEMO blanket design and construction after the first 10 years of ITER operation. For that, the EU has adopted a blanket testing strategy based on the development of Test Blanket Modules (TBMs) that are expected to use DEMO relevant technologies and are designed for each ITER plasma phase to optimize the feedback and to avoid any impact on ITER availability. Following the decision on ITER construction, the EU has reviewed and detailed the fundamental elements for an implementation of the future EU TBMs Project aimed at delivering TBMs Systems to ITER under suitable schedule and acceptance standards. For that the following items have been analyzed in detail and are reported in the present paper: · Impact of the ITER environment (design, standards, schedule, operational scheme) on the TBM systems design and development plan · Project technical plan with focus on the next ten years up to the installation of the first TBMs in ITER · Project risk

Thermal mechanical analysis of a solid breeding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aquaro, Donato

2003-01-01

This paper deals with a theoretical model of thermal mechanical behaviour of pebble beds, used as neutron multiplier or tritium breeder in the breeding blanket of a fusion nuclear reactor. The model tries to sum up the advantages of the two approaches ('discrete' method and macroscopic method), presently used for analysing the pebble bed behaviour, without their intrinsic disadvantages. The developed method has the capability to describe the microscopic behaviour of the single sphere (as the discrete approach does), and the capability to model complex structures under variable loads, typical of the macroscopic approach, without doing the unrealistic assumption of continuum homogeneous and isotropic material. The model describes the thermal mechanical behaviour of a single sphere compressed in elastic plastic conditions. The obtained relations have been extrapolated to regular lattices of spheres and subsequently to pebble beds (characterised by a macroscopic parameter called 'packing factor') of simple geometric shapes using statistical considerations. The results of the model have been assessed by comparison with results obtained by means of numerical simulations and experimental tests. The ongoing activity is the implementation in a FEM code of a new finite element, which represents one or several regular lattices of spheres, the non linear stiffness of which is obtained from the mono dimensional compression model of one sphere. The results of the numerical simulation permits to construct and display the strain and stress distribution of the single spheres by means of an implemented graphical interface

LMFBR blanket physics project progress report No. 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Driscoll, M.J.; Lanning, D.D.; Kaplan, I.; Supple, A.T.

1973-01-01

During the period covered by the report, July 1, 1972, through June 30, 1973, work was devoted to completion of experimental measurements and data analysis on Blanket Mockup No. 3, a graphite-reflected blanket, and to initiation of experimental work on Blanket Mockup No. 4, a steel-reflected assembly designed to mock up a demonstration plant blanket. Work was also carried out on the analysis of a number of advanced blanket concepts, including the use of high-albedo reflectors, the use of thorium in place of uranium in the blanket region, and the ''parfait'' or completely internal blanket concept. Finally, methods development work was initiated to develop the capability for making gamma heating measurements in the blanket mockups. (U.S.)

Using one hybrid 3D-1D-3D approach for the conceptual design of WCCB blanket for CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Kecheng; Zhang, Xiaokang [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China); Li, Jia [University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China); Ma, Xuebin [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China); Liu, Songlin, E-mail: slliu@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui, 230031 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, 230027 (China)

2017-01-15

Highlights: • The Hybrid 3D-1D-3D approach is used for radial building design of WCCB. • Nuclear heat obtained by this method agrees well with 3D neutronics results. • The final results of temperature and TBR satisfy with the requirements. • All the results show that this approach is high efficiency and high reliability. - Abstract: A hybrid 3D-1D-3D approach is proposed for the conceptual design of a blanket. Firstly, the neutron wall loading (NWL) of each blanket module is obtained through a neutronics calculation employing a 3D model, which contains the geometry outline of in-vacuum vessel components and the exact neutron source distribution. Secondly, a 1D cylindrical model with the blanket module containing a detailed radial building is adopted for the neutronics analysis, with the aim of calculating the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) and nuclear heating. Being normalized to the NWL, the nuclear heating is transferred to a 2D model for thermal-hydraulics analysis using the FLUENT code. Through a series analysis of nuclear-thermal iterations that considers the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) and thermal performance as optimization objectives, the optimized radial building of each module surrounding plasma can be obtained. Thirdly, the 3D structural design of each module is established by adding side walls, cover plates, stiffening plates, and other components based on the radial building. The 3D neutronics and thermal-hydraulics using the detailed blanket modules are re-analyzed. This approach has been successfully applied to the design of a water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The radial building of each blanket module surrounding plasma is optimized. The global tritium breeding ratio (TBR) calculated by the 3D neutronics analysis is 1.21, and the temperature of all materials in the 3D blanket structure is below the upper limits. As indicated by the comparison of the 1D and 3D neutronics and thermal

Nuclear characteristics of D-D fusion reactor blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakashima, Hideki; Ohta, Masao

1978-01-01

Fusion reactors operating on deuterium (D-D) cycle are considered to be of long range interest for their freedom from tritium breeding in the blanket. The present paper discusses the various possibilities of D-D fusion reactor blanket designs mainly from the standpoint of the nuclear characteristics. Neutronic and photonic calculations are based on presently available data to provide a basis of the optimal blanket design in D-D fusion reactors. It is found that it appears desirable to design a blanket with blanket/shield (BS) concept in D-D fusion reactors. The BS concept is designed to obtain reasonable shielding characteristics for superconducting magnet (SCM) by using shielding materials in the compact blanket. This concept will open the possibility of compact radiation shield design based on assured technology, and offer the advantage from the system economics point of view. (auth.)

Beryllium data base for in-pile mockup test on blanket of fusion reactor, (1)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kawamura, Hiroshi; Ishitsuka, Etsuo (Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Research Establishment); Sakamoto, Naoki; Kato, Masakazu; Takatsu, Hideyuki.

1992-11-01

Beryllium has been used in the fusion blanket designs with ceramic breeder as a neutron multiplier to increase the net tritium breeding ratio (TBR). The properties of beryllium, that is physical properties, chemical properties, thermal properties, mechanical properties, nuclear properties, radiation effects, etc. are necessary for the fusion blanket design. However, the properties of beryllium have not been arranged for the fusion blanket design. Therefore, it is indispensable to check and examine the material data of beryllium reported previously. This paper is the first one of the series of papers on beryllium data base, which summarizes the reported material data of beryllium. (author).

Evaluation of US demo helium-cooled blanket options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wong, C.P.C.; McQuillan, B.W.; Schleicher, R.W.

1995-10-01

A He-V-Li blanket design was developed as a candidate for the U.S. fusion demonstration power plant. This paper presents an 18 MPa helium-cooled, lithium breeder, V-alloy design that can be coupled to the Brayton cycle with a gross efficiency of 46%. The critical issue of designing to high gas pressure and the compatibility between helium impurities and V-alloy are addressed

Influence of hydrogen addition to a sweep gas on tritium behavior in a blanket module containing Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Katayama, K., E-mail: kadzu@nucl.kyushu-u.ac.jp [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering Science, Kyushu University 6-1, Kasugakoen, Kasuga-shi, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan); Someya, Y.; Tobita, K. [National Institutes for Quantum and radiological Science and Technology, 2-166 Omotedate, Obuchi, Rokkasho-mura, Kamikita-gun, Aomori 039-3212 (Japan); Fukada, S. [Department of Advanced Energy Engineering Science, Kyushu University 6-1, Kasugakoen, Kasuga-shi, Fukuoka 816-8580 (Japan); Hatano, Y. [Hydrogen Isotope Research Center, University of Toyama, Gofuku 3190, Toyama 930-8555 (Japan); Chikada, T. [Department of Chemistry, Graduate school of Science, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya, Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, 422-8529 (Japan)

2016-12-15

Highlights: • Mass balance equations of H{sub 2}, H{sub 2}O, T{sub 2} and T{sub 2}O in a Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebble bed were numerically calculated. • In the temperature rising process, the pebbles were exposed to water vapor of relatively high concentration. • Tritium permeation rate to cooling water reduced with increasing hydrogen concentration in the sweep gas. • Tritium inventory in the grain bulk and the grain surface occupied 99.6% of total inventory. - Abstract: Hydrogen addition to a sweep gas of a solid breeder blanket module has been proposed to enhance tritium recovery from the surface of the breeders. However, the influence of hydrogen addition on the bred tritium behavior is not understood completely. Tritium behavior in the simplified blanket module of Li{sub 2}TiO{sub 3} pebbles was numerically calculated considering diffusion in the grain bulk, surface reactions on the grain surface and permeation through the cooling pipe. Although a partial pressure of T{sub 2} increases with increasing a partial pressure of H{sub 2} in the sweep gas, it was estimated that tritium permeation rate to the cooling water decreases. Additionally, the release duration of water vapor generated by the reaction of the pebbles and hydrogen is shortened with increasing a partial pressure of H{sub 2}. Tritium inventory in the grain bulk and the grain surface occupies 99.6 % of total tritium inventory in the blanket module.

Blanket testing in NET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chazalon, M.; Daenner, W.; Libin, B.

1989-01-01

The testing stages in NET for the performance assessment of the various breeding blanket concepts developed at the present time in Europe for DEMO (LiPb and ceramic blankets) and the requirements upon NET to perform these tests are reviewed. Typical locations available in NET for blanket testing are the central outboard segments and the horizontal ports of in-vessel sectors. These test positions will be connectable with external test loops. The number of test loops (helium, water, liquid metal) will be such that each major class of blankets can be tested in NET. The test positions, the boundary conditions and the external test loops are identified and the requirements for test blankets are summarized (author). 6

Minimum thickness blanket-shield for fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karni, Y.; Greenspan, E.

1989-01-01

A lower bound on the minimum thickness fusion reactor blankets can be designed to have, if they are to breed 1.267 tritons per fusion neutron, is identified by performing a systematic nucleonic optimization of over a dozen different blanket concepts which use either Be, Li 17 Pb 83 , W or Zr for neutron multiplication. It is found that Be offers minimum thickness blankets; that the blanket and shield (B/S) thickness of Li 17 Pb 83 based blankets which are supplemented by Li 2 O and/or TiH 2 are comparable to the thickness of Be based B/S; that of the Be based blankets, the aqueous self-cooled one offers one of the most compact B/S; and that a number of blanket concepts might enable the design of B/S which is approximately 12 cm and 39 cm thinner than the B/S thickness of, respectively, conventional self-cooled Li 17 Pb 83 and Li blankets. Aqueous self-cooled tungsten blankets could be useful for experimental fusion devices provided they are designed to be heterogeneous. (orig.)

Trade-off study of liquid-metal self-cooled blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gohar, Y.

1986-01-01

A trade-off study of liquid-metal self-cooled blankets was carried out to define the performance of these blankets with respect to the main functions in a fusion reactor, and to determine the potential to operate at the maximum possible values of the performance parameters. The main purpose is to improve the reactor economics by maximizing the blanket energy multiplication factor, reduce the capital cost of the reactor, and satisfy the design requirements. The main parameters during the course of the study were the tritium breeding ratio (TBR), the blanket energy multiplication factor, the energy fraction lost to the shield, the 6 Li enrichment in the breeder material, the total blanket thickness, the reflector material selection, and the compositions of the different blanket zones. Also, the impact of different reactor design choices on the performance parameters was analyzed. The effect of the impurity control system (limiter or divertor), the material choice for the limiter, the elimination of tritium breeding from the inboard section of tokamak reactors, the coolant choice for the nonbreeding inboard blanket, and the neutron source distribution were part of the trade-off study. In addition, tritium breeding benchmark calculations were performed to study the impact of the use of different transport codes and nuclear data libraries. The importance and the negative effect of high TBR on the energy multiplication motivated the benchmark calculations

Special topics reports for the reference tandem mirror fusion breeder: liquid metal MHD pressure drop effects in the packed bed blanket. Vol. 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCarville, T.J.; Berwald, D.H.; Wong, C.P.C.

1984-09-01

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects which result from the use of liquid metal coolants in magnetic fusion reactors include the modification of flow profiles (including the suppression of turbulence) and increases in the primary loop pressure drop and the hydrostatic pressure at the first wall of the blanket. In the reference fission-suppressed tandem mirror fusion breeder design concept, flow profile modification is a relatively minor concern, but the MHD pressure drop in flowing the liquid lithium coolant through an annular packed bed of beryllium/thorium pebbles is directly related to the required first wall structure thickness. As such, it is a major concern which directly impacts fissile breeding efficiency. Consequently, an improved model for the packed bed pressure drop has been developed. By considering spacial averages of electric fields, currents, and fluid flow velocities the general equations have been reduced to simple expressions for the pressure drop. The averaging approach results in expressions for the pressure drop involving a constant which reflects details of the flow around the pebbles. Such details are difficult to assess analytically, and the constant may eventually have to be evaluated by experiment. However, an energy approach has been used in this study to bound the possible values of the constant, and thus the pressure drop. In anticipation that an experimental facility might be established to evaluate the undetermined constant as well as to address other uncertainties, a survey of existing facilities is presented

Blanket design study for a Commercial Tokamak Hybrid Reactor (CTHR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapin, D.L.; Green, L.; Lee, A.Y.; Culbert, M.E.; Kelly, J.L.

1979-09-01

The results are presented of a study on two blanket design concepts for application in a Commercial Tokamak Hybrid Reactor (CTHR). Both blankets operate on the U-Pu cycle and are designed to achieve tritium self-sufficiency while maximizing the fissile fuel production within thermal and mechanical design constraints. The two blanket concepts that were evaluated were: (1) a UC fueled, stainless steel clad and structure, helium cooled blanket; and (2) a UO 2 fueled, zircaloy clad, stainless steel structure, boiling water cooled blanket. Two different tritium breeding media, Li 2 O and LiH, were evaluated for use in both blanket concepts. The use of lead as a neutron multiplier or reflector and graphite as a reflector was also considered for both blankets

Status on DEMO Helium Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blanket thermo-mechanical analyses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aubert, J., E-mail: julien.aubert@cea.fr [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Aiello, G.; Jaboulay, J.-C. [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France); Kiss, B. [Institute of Nuclear Techniques, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest (Hungary); Morin, A. [CEA-Saclay, DEN, DM2S, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette (France)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • CEA with the support of Wigner-RCP and IPP-CR, is in charge of the design of the HCLL blanket for DEMO. The DEMO HCLL breeding blanket design capitalizes on the experience acquired on the HCLL Test Blanket Module designed for ITER. Design improvements are being implemented to adapt the design to DEMO specifications and performance objectives. • Thermal and mechanical analyses have been carried out in order to justify the design of the HCLL breeding blanket showing promising results for tie rods modules’ attachments system and relatively good behavior of the box in case of LOCA when comparing to RCC-MRx criteria. • CFD thermal analyses on generic breeding unit have enabled the consolidation of the results obtained with previous FEM design analyses. - Abstract: The EUROfusion Consortium develops a design of a fusion power demonstrator (DEMO) in the framework of the European “Horizon 2020” innovation and research program. One of the key components in the fusion reactor is the breeding blanket surrounding the plasma, ensuring tritium self-sufficiency, heat removal for conversion into electricity, and neutron shielding. The Helium Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL) blanket is one of the concepts which is investigated for DEMO. It is made of a Eurofer structure and uses the eutectic liquid lithium–lead as tritium breeder and neutron multiplier, and helium gas as coolant. Within the EUROfusion organization, CEA with the support of Wigner-RCP and IPP-CR, is in charge of the design of the HCLL blanket for DEMO. This paper presents the status of the thermal and mechanical analyses carried out on the HCLL breeding blanket in order to justify the design. CFD thermal analyses on generic breeding unit including stiffening plates and cooling plates have been performed with ANSYS in order to consolidate results obtained with previous FEM design analyses. Moreover in order to expand the justification of the HCLL Breeding blanket design, the most loaded area of

Preliminary electromagnetic analysis of Helium Cooled Solid Blanket for CFETR by MAXWELL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Cheng; Chen, Hongli, E-mail: hlchen1@ustc.edu.cn

2016-11-15

Highlights: • A FEM model of the blanket and magnetic system was built. • Electromagnetic forces and moments of the typical blanket for ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic materials were computed and analyzed. • Maxwell forces and Lorentz forces were computed and compared. • Eddy current in the blanket was analyzed under MD condition. - Abstract: A Helium Cooled Solid Blanket (HCSB) for CFETR (Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor) was designed by USTC. The structural and thermal-hydraulic analysis has been carried out, while electromagnetic analysis was not carefully researched. In this paper, a FEM (finite element method) model of the HCSB was developed and electromagnetic forces as well as moments was computed by a FEM software called MAXWELL integrated in ANSYS Workbench. In the geometrical model, flow channels and small connecting parts were neglected because of the extreme complication and the reasonable conservative assumption by neglecting these circumstantial details. As for electromagnetic (EM) analysis, Lorentz forces due to eddy currents caused by main disruption and Maxwell forces due to the magnetization of RAFM steel (i.e. EUROFER97) were computed. Since the unavailability of the details of the plasma in CFETR, when disruptions happen, the condition where a linear current quench of main disruption occurs was assumed. The maximum magnitude of the electromagnetic forces was 356.45 kN and the maximum value of the coupled electromagnetic moments was 1899.40 N m around the radial direction. It is feasible to couple electromagnetic analysis, structural analysis and thermal-hydraulic analysis in the future since MAXWELL has good channels to exchange data between different analytic parts.

Conception of divertorless tokamak reactor with turbulent plasma blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nedospasov, A.V.; Tokar, M.Z.

1980-01-01

The results of the calculations presented here demonstrate that, with technically reasonable degree of the magnetic field stochastisation, the turbulent plasma blanket can take the place of a divertor. It performs the three main functions of the divertor: (a) the exhaust of the helium and unburned fuel; (b) weakening of the fast particle flux to the wall surface; and (c) essential reduction of the impurity content in the active zone of the reactor. Taking into account that plasma flows to the first wall along field lines, we may figuratively say that the first wall plays the role of a divertor in our conception. (orig.)

Demonstration tokamak-power-plant study (DEMO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-09-01

A study of a Demonstration Tokamak Power Plant (DEMO) has been completed. The study's objective was to develop a conceptual design of a prototype reactor which would precede commercial units. Emphasis has been placed on defining and analyzing key design issues and R and D needs in five areas: noninductive current drivers, impurity control systems, tritium breeding blankets, radiation shielding, and reactor configuration and maintenance features. The noninductive current drive analysis surveyed a wide range of candidates and selected relativistic electron beams for the reference reactor. The impurity control analysis considered both a single-null poloidal divertor and a pumped limiter. A pumped limiter located at the outer midplane was selected for the reference design because of greater engineering simplicity. The blanket design activity focused on two concepts: a Li 2 O solid breeder with high pressure water cooling and a lead-rich Li-Pb eutectic liquid metal breeder (17Li-83Pb). The reference blanket concept is the Li 2 O option with a PCA structural material. The first wall concept is a beryllium-clad corrugated panel design. The radiation shielding effort concentrated on reducing the cost of bulk and penetration shielding; the relatively low-cost outborad shield is composed of concrete, B 4 C, lead, and FE 1422 structural material

Thermal analysis of a helium-cooled, tube-bank blanket module for a tandem mirror fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Werner, R.W.

1983-01-01

A blanket module concept for the central cell of a tandem mirror reactor is described which takes advantage of the excellent heat transfer and low pressure drop characteristics of tube banks in cross-flow. The blanket employs solid Li 2 O as the tritium breeding material and helium as the coolant. The lithium oxide is contained in tubes arranged within the submodules as a two-pass, cross-flow heat exchanger. Primarily, the heat transfer and thermal-hydraulic aspects of the blanket design study are described in this paper. In particular, the analytical model used for selection of the best tube-bank design parameters is discussed in some detail

Thermal analysis of a helium-cooled, tube-bank blanket module for a tandem-mirror fusion reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Werner, R.W.; Hoffman, M.A.; Johnson, G.L.

1983-01-01

A blanket module concept for the central cell of a tandem mirror reactor is described which takes advantage of the excellent heat transfer and low pressure drop characteristics of tube banks in cross-flow. The blanket employs solid Li 2 O as the tritium breeding material and helium as the coolant. The lithium oxide is contained in tubes arranged within the submodules as a two-pass, cross-flow heat exchanger. Primarily, the heat transfer and thermal-hydraulic aspects of the blanket design study are described in this paper. In particular, the analytical model used for selection of the best tube-bank design parameters is discussed in some detail

Neutronic calculations for the conceptual design of an in-reactor solid breeder experiment, TRIO-01

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Childs, R.L.; Gabriel, T.A.; Lillie, R.A.

1981-03-01

Neutronics calculations have been performed to obtain tritium production and heat generation rates for the irradiation of solid tritium breeding materials in the Oak Ridge Research Reactor (ORR). Two breeder materials, Li 2 O and LiAlO 2 , were considered. Burnup calculations were performed to estimate the amount of 6 Li present as a function of time

Development of thermal-hydraulic analysis methodology for multiple modules of water-cooled breeder blanket in fusion DEMO reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Geon-Woo; Lee, Jeong-Hun [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Hyoung-Kyu, E-mail: chohk@snu.ac.kr [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Goon-Cherl [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Im, Kihak [National Fusion Research Institute, 169-148, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of)

2016-02-15

Highlights: • A methodology to simulate the K-DEMO blanket system was proposed. • The results were compared with the CFD, to verify the prediction capability of MARS. • 46 Blankets in a single sector in K-DEMO were simulated using MARS-KS. • Supervisor program was devised to handle each blanket module individually. • The calculation results showed the flow rates, pressure drops, and temperatures. - Abstract: According to the conceptual design of the fusion DEMO reactor proposed by the National Fusion Research Institute of Korea, the water-cooled breeding blanket system incorporates a total of 736 blanket modules. The heat flux and neutron wall loading to each blanket module vary along their poloidal direction, and hence, thermal analysis for at least one blanket sector is required to confirm that the temperature limitations of the materials are satisfied in all the blanket modules. The present paper proposes a methodology of thermal analysis for multiple modules of the blanket system using a nuclear reactor thermal-hydraulic analysis code, MARS-KS. In order to overcome the limitations of the code, caused by the restriction on the number of computational nodes, a supervisor program was devised, which handles each blanket module separately at first, and then corrects the flow rate, considering pressure drops that occur in each module. For a feasibility test of the proposed methodology, 46 blankets in a single sector were simulated; the calculation results of the parameters, such as mass flow, pressure drops, and temperature distribution in the multiple blanket modules showed that the multi-module analysis method can be used for efficient thermal-hydraulic analysis of the fusion DEMO reactor.

Fissile fuel dynamics of breeder/converter reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harms, A.A.

1978-01-01

The long-term fissile fuel dynamics for a hierarchy of fission reactors covering the range from pure-burners to super-breeders is examined. It is found that the breeding gains of the core and blanket can be used to identify several distinct fissile fuel histories and elucidate the importance of fuel cycle characteristics such as the time dependence of the fissile fuel doubling time. On this basis, a self-sufficient fission reactor is introduced and its determining characteristics are identified. (author)

Effect of nature convection on heat transfer in the liquid LiPb blanket for FDS-II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Hongyan; Chen Hongli [Huaibei Coal Industry Teachers Coll. (China). Dept. of Physics; Zhou Tao [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China). Inst. of Plasma Physics

2007-07-01

The He-cooled liquid LiPb tritium breeder (SLL) blanket concept is one of options of the blanket design of the fusion power reactor (FDS-II). The SLL blanket could be developed relatively easily with lower LiPb outlet temperature and slower LiPb flow velocity that allows the utilization of relatively mature material technology. The velocity of the liquid LiPb in the blanket is very slowly only in order to extract tritium. The magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow and heat transfer become very complex resulting from the differential heating of walls of the channels, especially adjacent to the First Wall (FW), and internal heat sources inside of the liquid LiPb. It is necessary to analyse the effect of the buoyancy-driven LiPb MHD flow on heat transfer in the channels with electrically and thermally conducting walls adjacent to the FW. The nature convection of the liquid LiPb, due to thermal diffusion, in the poloidal channel adjacent to the FW in the presence of the strong magnetic field of the SLL blanket has been considered and studied. The specially numerical MHD code based on the computational fluid dynamic software has been developed for analysis of the buoyancy-driven MHD flow. The properties of buoyantly convective flows have been investigated for various thermal boundary conditions. The numerical analysis was performed for the effect of nature convection on heat transfer of the liquid LiPb MHD flow in the poloidal channel in the SLL blanket. For the strong temperature gradient in the blanket and internal heat flux of Liquid LiPb, the three-dimensional temperature distributions of the LiPb, the FW and other walls have been given. Finally, The effect of the ratio of MHD buoyancy on the heat transfer characteristics of the LiPb flow have been calculated and presented. (orig.)

Fusion fuel blanket technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hastings, I.J.; Gierszewski, P.

1987-05-01

The fusion blanket surrounds the burning hydrogen core of a fusion reactor. It is in this blanket that most of the energy released by the nuclear fusion of deuterium-tritium is converted into useful product, and where tritium fuel is produced to enable further operation of the reactor. As fusion research turns from present short-pulse physics experiments to long-burn engineering tests in the 1990's, energy removal and tritium production capabilities become important. This technology will involve new materials, conditions and processes with applications both to fusion and beyond. In this paper, we introduce features of proposed blanket designs and update and status of international research. In focusing on the Canadian blanket technology program, we discuss the aqueous lithium salt blanket concept, and the in-reactor tritium recovery test program

Advanced concepts under development in the United States Breeder-Fuel-Reprocessing Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burch, W.D.

1981-01-01

Advanced concepts and techniques for the fuel reprocessing step are being developed. These concepts have been incorporated into the conceptual design of a Hot Experimental Facility (HEF), which is intended to demonstrate reprocessing of the first US breeder demonstration reactor. To achieve system reliability and reduce occupational doses, a concept of totally remote operation and maintenance (termed Remotex) has been conceived and is being developed. In this concept, maintenance and mechanical operations are accomplished with remotely operated bilateral force-reflecting electronic master/slave manipulators. Suitable transport systems, coupled with remote closed-circuit television viewing, are provided to extend man's capabilities into the hostile cell environment. New equipment concepts are being developed for the fuel dismantling and shearing step, a high-temperature dry process termed voloxidation to remove tritium, a continuous rotary dissolver, and for an improved centrifugal solvent contractor. Techniques have been developed, using engineering-scale equipment with active tracers for retention of 85 Kr, radioiodine, 14 C, and 3 H

First-wall and blanket engineering development for magnetic-fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, C.; Herman, H.; Maroni, V.; Turner, L.; Clemmer, R.; Finn, P.; Johnson, C.; Abdou, M.

1981-01-01

A number of programs in the USA concerned with materials and engineering development of the first wall and breeder blanket systems for magnetic-fusion power reactors are described. Argonne National Laboratory has the lead or coordinating role, with many major elements of the research and engineering tests carried out by a number of organizations including industry and other national laboratories

Test Blanket Working Group's recent activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vetter, J.E.

2001-01-01

The ITER Test Blanket Working Group (TBWG) has continued its activities during the period of extension of the EDA with a revised charter on the co-ordination of the development work performed by the Parties and by the JCT leading to a co-ordinated test programme on ITER for a DEMO-relevant tritium breeding blanket. This follows earlier work carried out until July 1998, which formed part of the ITER Final Design Report (FDR), completed in 1998. Whilst the machine parameters for ITER-FEAT have been significantly revised compared to the FDR, testing of breeding blanket modules remains a main objective of the test programme and the development of a reactor-relevant breeding blanket to ensure tritium fuel self-sufficiency is recognized a key issue for fusion. Design work and R and D on breeding blanket concepts, including co-operation with the other Contacting Parties of the ITER-EDA for testing these concepts in ITER, are included in the work plans of the Parties

Lay out and materials for in pile tritium transport testing of breeder-inside-tube pin assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alvani, C.; Casadio, S.; Mancini, M.R.; Nannetti, C.A.; Avon, J.; Ravel, S.; Pruzzo, G.; Terrosi; Roux, N.; Terlain, A.; and others.

1994-01-01

An irradiation experiment (90 FPD in SILOE reactor) has been designed in order to evaluate the in-situ effect of red-ox power of sweeping gas (helium with 100 vpm of H 2 /H 2 O with relative concentrations varying from pure H 2 to pure H 2 O ) on tritium removal from LiAlO 2 and Li 2 ZrO 3 ; and tritium permeation through AlSl-316L SS tubes with bare and coated surfaces. The conditions and materials explored were selected in order to test possible improvements with respect to critical issues for the 'Breeder Inside Tube' (BIT) blanket concept development. (author) 6 refs.; 4 figs.; 2 tabs

Inclusion and difusion studies of D in fusion breeding blanket candidate materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fan, L.

2015-07-01

Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) reaction is the most practical fusion reaction on the way to harness fusion energy. As tritium presents trace quantities on Earth [1], tritium fuel is essential to be generated simultaneously with the D-T reaction in a commerical fusion power plant. Tritium can be obtained in the lithium contained breeding blanket as a transmutation product of nuclear reaction 6Li (n, a)T. Li2T iO3 is considered to be one promising candidate solid tritium breeder material, due to its high lithium density, low activation, compatiblity with structure materials and high chemical stability. The tritium generated in Li2T iO3 breeding blanket needs to be collected and recycled back to the fusion reaction. Therefore, the study of the diffusion characteristic of breeder material Li2T iO3 is necessary to determine tritium mobility and tritium extraction efficiency. In order to study tritium release mechanism of Li2T iO3 breeding material in a fusion power plant environment, a fusion like neutron spectrum is essential while it is now not availble in any laboratory. One alternative is using ion accelerator or implantor to get energetic hydrogenic (H,D,T) ions impacting on breeding material, to simulate the tritium distribution situation. Because of the radioactive property of tritium which will complicate processing procedure, another isotope of hydrogen Deuterium is actually used to be studied. The defect structure in Li2T iO3, due to reactor exposure to fusion generated particles and ? ray irradiation, is achieved by energetic Ti ions. SRIM program is implemented to simulate the D ion or Ti ion distributions after bombarding, as well as the defects. X-ray diffraction technique helps to identify phase compositions. Transmission electron microscopy technique is used to observe the microstructures (Author)

UF6 breeder reactor power plants for electric power generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rust, J.H.; Clement, J.D.; Hohl, F.

1976-01-01

The reactor concept analyzed is a 233 UF 6 core surrounded by a molten salt (Li 7 F, BeF 2 , ThF 4 ) blanket. Nuclear survey calculations were carried out for both spherical and cylindrical geometries. A maximum breeding ratio of 1.22 was found. Thermodynamic cycle calculations were performed for a variety of Rankine cycles. Optimization of a Rankine cycle for a gas core breeder reactor employing an intermediate heat exchanger gave a maximum efficiency of 37 percent. A conceptual design is presented along with a system layout for a 1000 MW stationary power plant. The advantages of the GCBR are as follows: (1) high efficiency, (2) simplified on-line reprocessing, (3) inherent safety considerations, (4) high breeding ratio, (5) possibility of burning all or most of the long-lived nuclear waste actinides, and (6) possibility of extrapolating the technology to higher temperatures and MHD direct conversion

The requirements for processing tritium recovered from liquid lithium blankets: The blanket interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clemmer, R.G.; Finn, P.A.; Greenwood, L.R.; Grimm, T.L.; Sze, D.K.; Bartlit, J.R.; Anderson, J.L.; Yoshida, H.; Naruse.

1988-03-01

We have initiated a study to define a blanket processing mockup for Tritium Systems Test Assembly. Initial evaluation of the requirements of the blanket processing system have been started. The first step of the work is to define the condition of the gaseous tritium stream from the blanket tritium recovery system. This report summarizes this part of the work for one particular blanket concept, i.e., a self-cooled lithium blanket. The total gas throughput, the hydrogen to tritium ratio, the corrosive chemicals, and the radionuclides are defined. The key discoveries are: the throughput of the blanket gas stream (including the helium carrier gas) is about two orders of magnitude higher than the plasma exhaust stream;the protium to tritium ratio is about 1, the deuterium to tritium ratio is about 0.003;the corrosion chemicals are dominated by halides;the radionuclides are dominated by C-14, P-32, and S-35;their is high level of nitrogen contamination in the blanket stream. 77 refs., 6 figs., 13 tabs

Radiolysis aspects of the aqueous self-cooled blanket concept and the problem of tritium extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruggeman, A.; Snykers, M.; DeRegge, P.; Embrechts, M.J.

1988-01-01

In the Aqueous Self-Cooled Blanket (ASCB) concept, an aqueous 6 Li solution in a metallic structure is used as a fusion reactor shielding-breeding blanket. Radiolysis effects could be very important for the design and the use of an ASCB. Although many aspects of the radiation chemistry of water and dilute aqueous solutions are now reasonably well understood, it is not possible to predict the radiochemical behaviour of the concentrated candidate ASCB solutions quantitatively. However, by means of a worst case calculation for a possible ASCB for the Next European Torus (NET) it is shown that even with an important rate of water decomposition the ASCB concept is still workable. Gas bubbles and explosive mixtures can be avoided by increasing the pressure in the neutron irradiated zone and by extracting and/or recombining the radiolytically produced hydrogen and oxygen. This could require an additional inert gas loop, which could also be used as part of the tritium extraction installation

Special topics reports for the reference tandem mirror fusion breeder. Volume 4. Structural analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orient, G.; Westmann, R.A.; Ghoniem, N.M.; Garner, J.K.; Gromada, R.G.

1984-12-01

This report presents a structural analysis of the reference fission suppressed fusion breeder blanket. An axisymmetric structural model is used to analyze thermal and pressure stresses in the blanket. Results indicate that the first wall must be decoupled from the back of the blanket to avoid large thermal stresses. The composite first wall appears to be adequate to resist buckling, and is further strengthened by radial diaphragms. Semieliptical closures for the module ends appear to be feasible, although the attachment of these end closures to the composite first wall has not been analyzed. Radiation effects have not been included in the structural model, but an assessment of creep and swelling indicates a 4 to 5 year blanket life at an assumed strain limit of 2%. Design modifications which will reduce thermal stresses and simplify manufacturing are recommended

A coupled systems code-CFD MHD solver for fusion blanket design

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wolfendale, Michael J., E-mail: m.wolfendale11@imperial.ac.uk; Bluck, Michael J.

2015-10-15

Highlights: • A coupled systems code-CFD MHD solver for fusion blanket applications is proposed. • Development of a thermal hydraulic systems code with MHD capabilities is detailed. • A code coupling methodology based on the use of TCP socket communications is detailed. • Validation cases are briefly discussed for the systems code and coupled solver. - Abstract: The network of flow channels in a fusion blanket can be modelled using a 1D thermal hydraulic systems code. For more complex components such as junctions and manifolds, the simplifications employed in such codes can become invalid, requiring more detailed analyses. For magnetic confinement reactor blanket designs using a conducting fluid as coolant/breeder, the difficulties in flow modelling are particularly severe due to MHD effects. Blanket analysis is an ideal candidate for the application of a code coupling methodology, with a thermal hydraulic systems code modelling portions of the blanket amenable to 1D analysis, and CFD providing detail where necessary. A systems code, MHD-SYS, has been developed and validated against existing analyses. The code shows good agreement in the prediction of MHD pressure loss and the temperature profile in the fluid and wall regions of the blanket breeding zone. MHD-SYS has been coupled to an MHD solver developed in OpenFOAM and the coupled solver validated for test geometries in preparation for modelling blanket systems.

Progress on DEMO blanket attachment concept with keys and pins

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vizvary, Zsolt; Iglesias, Daniel; Cooper, David; Crowe, Robert; Riccardo, Valeria

2015-01-01

Highlights: • DEMO blanket attachment system with keys and pins (without using bolts). • Blanket segments are preloaded by progressively designed springs. • Blanket back plate flexibility has a major impact on spring design. • Mechanical analysis of other components indicates no unresolvable issues. • Thermal analysis indicates acceptable temperatures for the support system. - Abstract: The blanket attachment has to cope with gravity, thermal and electromagnetic loads, also it has to be installed and serviced by remote handling. Pre-stressed components suffer from stress relaxation in irradiated environments such as DEMO. To circumvent this problem pre-stressed component should be either avoided or shielded, and where possible keys and pins should be used. This strategy has been proposed for the DEMO multi-module segments (MMS). The blanket segments are held by two tapered keys each, designed to allow thermal expansions while providing contact with the vacuum vessel and to resist the poloidal and radial moments the latter being dominant at 9.1 MNm inboard and 15 MNm outboard. On the top of the blanket segment there is a pin which provides vertical support. At the bottom another vertical support has to lock them in position after installation and manage the pre-load on the segments. The pre-load is required to deal with the electromagnetic loads during disruption. This is provided by a set of springs, which require shielding as they are preloaded. These are sized to cope with the force (3 MN inboard, 1.4 MN outboard) due to halo currents and the toroidal moment which can reverse. Calculations show that the flexibility of the blanket segment itself plays a significant role in defining the required support system. The blanket segment acts as a preloaded spring and it has to be part of the attachment design as well.

Conceptual design of Blanket Remote Handling System for CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wei, Jianghua, E-mail: weijh@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China); Song, Yuntao, E-mail: songyt@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China); Pei, Kun; Zhao, Wenlong; Zhang, Yu; Cheng, Yong [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei (China)

2015-11-15

Highlights: • The concept for the blanket maintenance is carried out, including three sub-systems. • The basic maintenance procedure for blanket between VV and hot cell is carried out. • The primary kinematics study is used to verify the feasibility of BRHS. • Virtual reality is adopted as another approach to verify the concept design. - Abstract: The China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR), which is a new superconducting tokamak device being designed by China, has a mission to achieve a high duty time (0.3–0.5). To accomplish this great mission, the big modular blanket option has been adopted to achieve the high efficiency of the blanket maintenance. Considering this mission and the large and heavy blanket module, a novel conceptual blanket maintenance system for CFETR has been carried out by us over the past year. This paper presents the conceptual design of the Blanket Remote Handling System (BRHS), which mainly comprises the In-Vessel-Maintenance-System (IVMS), Lifting System and Blanket-Tool-Manipulator System (BTMS). The BRHS implements the extraction and replacement between in-vessel (the blanket module operation configuration location) and ex-vessel (inside of the vertical maintenance cask) by the collaboration of these three sub systems. What is more, this paper represents the blanket maintenance procedure between the docking station (between hot cell building and tokamak building) and inside the vacuum vessel, in tokamak building. Virtual reality technology is also used to verify and optimize our concept design.

Conceptual design of Blanket Remote Handling System for CFETR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei, Jianghua; Song, Yuntao; Pei, Kun; Zhao, Wenlong; Zhang, Yu; Cheng, Yong

2015-01-01

Highlights: • The concept for the blanket maintenance is carried out, including three sub-systems. • The basic maintenance procedure for blanket between VV and hot cell is carried out. • The primary kinematics study is used to verify the feasibility of BRHS. • Virtual reality is adopted as another approach to verify the concept design. - Abstract: The China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR), which is a new superconducting tokamak device being designed by China, has a mission to achieve a high duty time (0.3–0.5). To accomplish this great mission, the big modular blanket option has been adopted to achieve the high efficiency of the blanket maintenance. Considering this mission and the large and heavy blanket module, a novel conceptual blanket maintenance system for CFETR has been carried out by us over the past year. This paper presents the conceptual design of the Blanket Remote Handling System (BRHS), which mainly comprises the In-Vessel-Maintenance-System (IVMS), Lifting System and Blanket-Tool-Manipulator System (BTMS). The BRHS implements the extraction and replacement between in-vessel (the blanket module operation configuration location) and ex-vessel (inside of the vertical maintenance cask) by the collaboration of these three sub systems. What is more, this paper represents the blanket maintenance procedure between the docking station (between hot cell building and tokamak building) and inside the vacuum vessel, in tokamak building. Virtual reality technology is also used to verify and optimize our concept design.

Chemical form of tritium released from solid breeder materials and the influences of it on a bred tritium recovery systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furukubo, Y.; Nishikawa, M.; Nishida, Y.; Kinjyo, T.; Tanifuji, Takaaki; Kawamura, Yoshinori; Enoeda, Mikio

2004-01-01

The ratio of HTO in total tritium was measured at release of the bred tritium to the purge gas with hydrogen using the thermal release after irradiation method, where neutron irradiation was performed at JRR-3 reactor in JAERI or KUR reactor in Kyoto University. It is experimentally confirmed in this study that not a small portion of bred tritium is released to the purge gas in the form of HTO form ceramic breeder materials even when hydrogen is added to the purge gas. The chemical composition is to be decided by the competitive reaction at the grain surface of a ceramic breeder material where desorption reaction, isotope exchange reaction 1, isotope exchange reaction 2 and water formation reaction are considered to take part. Observation in this study implies that it is necessary to have a bred tritium recovery system applicable for both HT and HTO form to recover whole bred tritium. The chemical composition also decides the amount of tritium transferable to the cooling water of the electricity generation system through the structural material in the blanket system. Permeation behavior of tritium through some structural materials at various conditions are also discussed. (author)

Overview of the European Union fusion nuclear technologies development and essential elements on the way to DEMO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andreani, R.; Diegele, E.; Gulden, W.; Laesser, R.; Maisonnier, D.; Murdoch, D.; Pick, M.; Poitevin, Y.

2006-01-01

EU is strongly preparing ITER construction involving the system of EU Associations, universities and industry. The European programme has been steered to be in line with the present conception of a future power reactor. Thirty percent of the fusion research budget has been spent on long-term related activities managed by EFDA. These include Power Plant Conceptual Studies (PPCS), the recently undertaken DEMO Conceptual Studies, design and R and D for breeder blankets, low activation materials and IFMIF. Developments on fuel cycle, neutronics, safety and socio-economics complement those specifically performed for ITER. Two EU helium-cooled DEMO blankets will be tested in ITER, using liquid lithium-lead and solid ceramics as breeders. The blanket structures will use EUROFER. Irradiations to 70-80 dpa will qualify EUROFER for DEMO. Advanced materials, in particular SiC f /SiC, under development, could provide more thermodynamically efficient blankets. Even with a fully successful ITER, a number of issues will remain open in technology. The application of high temperature superconductors, essential progress in materials, blanket design and remote handling, are required to produce environmentally safe and economically competitive fusion. A fully integrated world wide international programme is the best way to efficiently progress in these fields

Nuclear Analyses of Indian LLCB Test Blanket System in ITER

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, H. L.; Shaw, A. K.; Danani, C.; Chaudhuri, Paritosh

2017-04-01

Heading towards the Nuclear Fusion Reactor Program, India is developing Lead Lithium Ceramic Breeder (LLCB) tritium breeding blanket for its future fusion Reactor. A mock-up of the LLCB blanket is proposed to be tested in ITER equatorial port no.2, to ensure the overall performance of blanket in reactor relevant nuclear fusion environment. Nuclear analyses play an important role in LLCB Test Blanket System design & development. It is required for tritium breeding estimation, thermal-hydraulic design, coolants process design, radioactive waste management, equipment maintenance & replacement strategies and nuclear safety. The nuclear behaviour of LLCB test blanket module in ITER is predicated in terms of nuclear responses such as tritium production, nuclear heating, neutron fluxes and radiation damages. Radiation shielding capability of LLCB TBS inside and outside bio-shield was also assessed to fulfill ITER shielding requirements. In order to supports the rad-waste and safety assessment, nuclear activation analyses were carried out and radioactivity data were generated for LLCB TBS components. Nuclear analyses of LLCB TBS are performed using ITER recommended nuclear analyses codes (i.e. MCNP, EASY), nuclear cross section data libraries (i.e. FENDL 2.1, EAF) and neutronic model (ITER C-lite v.l). The paper describes a comprehensive nuclear performance of LLCB TBS in ITER.

Thermally induced outdiffusion studies of deuterium in ceramic breeder blanket materials after irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

González, Maria, E-mail: maria.gonzalez@ciemat.es [LNF-CIEMAT, Materials for Fusion Group, Madrid (Spain); Carella, Elisabetta; Moroño, Alejandro [LNF-CIEMAT, Materials for Fusion Group, Madrid (Spain); Kolb, Matthias H.H.; Knitter, Regina [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Applied Materials (IAM-WPT), Karlsruhe (Germany)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • Surface defects in Lithium-based ceramics are acting as trapping centres for deuterium. • Ionizing radiation affects the deuterium sorption and desorption processes. • By extension, the release of the tritium produced in a fusion breeder will be effective. - Abstract: Based on a KIT–CIEMAT collaboration on the radiation damage effects of light ions sorption/desorption in ceramic breeder materials, candidate materials for the ITER EU TBM were tested for their outgassing behavior as a function of temperature and radiation. Lithium orthosilicate based pebbles with different metatitanate contents and pellets of the individual oxide components were exposed to a deuterium atmosphere at room temperature. Then the thermally induced release of deuterium gas was registered up to 800 °C. This as-received behavior was studied in comparison with that after exposing the deuterium-treated samples to 4 MGy total dose of gamma radiation. The thermal desorption spectra reveal differences in deuterium sorption/desorption behavior depending on the composition and the induced ionizing damage. In these breeder candidates, strong desorption rate at approx. 300 °C takes place, which slightly increases with increasing amount of the titanate second phase. For all studied materials, ionizing radiation induces electronic changes disabling a number of trapping centers for D{sub 2} adsorption.

Preliminary study on lithium-salt aqueous solution blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Hiroshi; Naruse, Yuji; Yamaoka, Mitsuaki; Ohara, Atsushi; Ono, Kiyoshi; Kobayashi, Shigetada.

1992-06-01

Aqueous solution blanket using lithium salts such as LiNO 3 and LiOH have been studied in the US-TIBER program and ITER conceptual design activity. In the JAERI/LANL collaboration program for the joint operation of TSTA (Tritium Systems Test Assembly), preliminary design work of blanket tritium system for lithium ceramic blanket, aqueous solution blanket and liquid metal blanket, have been performed to investigate technical feasibility of tritium demonstration tests using the TSTA. Detail study of the aqueous solution blanket concept have not been performed in the Japanese fusion program, so that this study was carried out to investigate features of its concept and to evaluated its technical problems. The following are the major items studied in the present work: (i) Neutronics of tritium breeding ratio and shielding performance Lithium concentration, Li-60 enrichment, beryllium or lead, composition of structural material/beryllium/solution, heavy water, different lithium-salts (ii) Physicochemical properties of salts Solubility, corrosion characteristics and compatibility with structural materials, radiolysis (iii) Estimation of radiolysis in ITER aqueous solution blanket. (author)

Current Status on the Korean Test Blanket Module Development for testing in the ITER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Dong Won; Kim, Suk Kwon; Bae, Young Dug; Yoon, Jae Sung; Jung, Ki Sok

2010-01-01

Korea has proposed and designed a Helium Cooled Molten Lithium (HCML) Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be tested in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Ferrite Martensitic (FM) steel is used as the structural material and helium (He) is used as a coolant to cool the first wall (FW) and breeding zone. Liquid lithium (Li) is circulated for a tritium breeding, not for a cooling purpose. Main purpose for developing the TBM is to develop the design technology for DEMO and fusion reactor and it should be proved through the experiment in the ITER with TBM. Therefore, we have developed the design scheme and related codes including the safety analysis for obtain the license to be tested in the ITER. In order to develop and install at the ITER, several technologies were developed in parallel; fabrication, breeder, He cooling, tritium extraction and so on. Figure 1 shows the overall TBM development scheme. In Korea, official strategy for developing the TBM is to participate to other parties' concept such as US and EU ones, in which PbLi (lead lithium eutectic), He, and FM steel were used for liquid breeder, coolant, and structural material, respectively

Design of ITER shielding blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furuya, Kazuyuki; Sato, Satoshi; Hatano, Toshihisa; Tokami, Ikuhide; Kitamura, Kazunori; Miura, Hidenori; Ito, Yutaka; Kuroda, Toshimasa; Takatsu, Hideyuki

1997-05-01

A mechanical configuration of ITER integrated primary first wall/shield blanket module were developed focusing on the welded attachment of its support leg to the back plate. A 100 mm x 150 mm space between the legs of adjacent modules was incorporated for the working space of welding/cutting tools. A concept of coolant branch pipe connection to accommodate deformation due to the leg welding and differential displacement of the module and the manifold/back plate during operation was introduced. Two-dimensional FEM analyses showed that thermal stresses in Cu-alloy (first wall) and stainless steel (first wall coolant tube and shield block) satisfied the stress criteria following ASME code for ITER BPP operation. On the other hand, three-dimensional FEM analyses for overall in-vessel structures exhibited excessive primary stresses in the back plate and its support structure to the vacuum vessel under VDE disruption load and marginal stresses in the support leg of module No.4. Fabrication procedure of the integrated primary first wall/shield blanket module was developed based on single step solid HIP for the joining of Cu-alloy/Cu-alloy, Cu-alloy/stainless steel, and stainless steel/stainless steel. (author)

Two-phase-flow cooling concept for fusion reactor blankets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bender, D.J.; Hoffman, M.A.

1977-01-01

The new two-phase heat transfer medium proposed is a mixture of potassium droplets and helium which permits blanket operation at hih temperature and low pressure, while maintaining acceptable pumping power requirements, coolant ducting size, and blanket structure fractions. A two-phase flow model is described. The helium pumping power and the primary heat transfer loop are discussed

An axially and radially two-zoned large liquid-metal fast breeder reactor core concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamei, T.; Arie, K.; Moriki, Y.; Suzuki, M.; Yamaoka, M.

1985-01-01

A new core concept that has advantages over conventional homogeneous cores in neutronics characteristics such as power peaking factor, burnup reactivity loss, and reactivity response to the movement of control rods in earthquakes has been evolved. Two options of the new core concept are feasible. One is the so-called axially heterogeneous core, with the internal blanket placed at the lower part of the core. The other concept is similar to the conventional homogeneous core, but has two different plutonium-enriched zones in the axial as well as in the radial direction, so it is a hybrid type of the conventional homogeneous core and the axially heterogeneous core. The new design concept is described and the way that the core characteristics are improved by the chosen key parameters is shown

Assessment of alkali metal coolants for the ITER blanket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natesan, K.; Reed, C.B.; Mattas, R.F.

1994-01-01

The blanket system is one of the most important components of a fusion reactor because it has a major impact on both the economics and safety of fusion energy. The primary functions of the blanket in a deuterium/tritium-fueled fusion reactor are to convert the fusion energy into sensible heat and to breed tritium for the fuel cycle. The Blanket Comparison and Selection Study, conducted earlier, described the overall comparative performance of different blanket concepts, including liquid metal, molten salt, water, and helium. This paper will discuss the ITER requirements for a self-cooled blanket concept with liquid lithium and for indirectly cooled concepts that use other alkali metals such as NaK. The paper will address the thermodynamics of interactions between the liquid metals (i.e., lithium and NaK) and structural materials (e.g., V-base alloys), together with associated corrosion/compatibility issues. Available experimental data will be used to assess the long-term performance of the first wall in a liquid metal environment

Feasibility study of a fission-suppressed tokamak fusion breeder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moir, R.W.; Lee, J.D.; Neef, W.S.

1984-12-01

The preliminary conceptual design of a tokamak fissile fuel producer is described. The blanket technology is based on the fission suppressed breeding concept where neutron multiplication occurs in a bed of 2 cm diameter beryllium pebbles which are cooled by helium at 50 atmospheres pressure. Uranium-233 is bred in thorium metal fuel elements which are in the form of snap rings attached to each beryllium pebble. Tritium is bred in lithium bearing material contained in tubes immersed in the pebble bed and is recovered by a purge flow of helium. The neutron wall load is 3 MW/m 2 and the blanket material is ferritic steel. The net fissile breeding ratio is 0.54 +- 30% per fusion reaction. This results in the production of 4900 kg of 233 U per year from 3000 MW of fusion power. This quantity of fuel will provide makeup fuel for about 12 LWRs of equal thermal power or about 18 1 GW/sub e/ LWRs. The calculated cost of the produced uranium-233 is between $23/g and $53/g or equivalent to $10/kg to $90/kg of U 3 O 8 depending on government financing or utility financing assumptions. Additional topics discussed in the report include the tokamak operating mode (both steady state and long pulse considered), the design and breeding implications of using a poloidal divertor for impurity control, reactor safety, the choice of a tritium breeder, and fuel management

Conceptual design of Tritium Extraction System for the European HCPB Test Blanket Module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciampichetti, A.; Nitti, F.S.; Aiello, A.; Ricapito, I.; Liger, K.; Demange, D.; Sedano, L.; Moreno, C.; Succi, M.

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► HCPB (Helium Cooled Pebble Bed) Test Blanket Module (TBM) to be tested in ITER. ► Tritium extraction by gas purging, removal and transfer to the Tritium Plant. ► Conceptual design of TES and revision of the previous configuration. ► Main components: adsorption column, ZrCo getter beds and PERMCAT reactor. - Abstract: The HCPB (Helium Cooled Pebble Bed) Test Blanket Module (TBM), developed in EU to be tested in ITER, adopts a ceramic containing lithium as breeder material, beryllium as neutron multiplier and helium at 80 bar as primary coolant. In HCPB-TBM the main function of Tritium Extraction System (TES) is to extract tritium from the breeder by gas purging, to remove it from the purge gas and to route it to the ITER Tritium Plant for the final tritium processing. In this paper, starting from a revision of the so far reference process considered for HCPB-TES and considering a new modeling activity aimed to evaluate tritium concentration in purge gas, an updated conceptual design of TES is reported.

Evaluation of European blanket concepts for DEMO from availability and reliability point of view

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nardi, C.

1995-12-01

This technical report is concerned with the ENEA activities relating to reliability and availability for the selection among two of the four European blanket concepts for the DEMO reactor. The activities on the BIT concept, the one proposed by ENEA, are emphasized. In spite of the lack of data relating to the behaviour of structures in an environment similar to that of a fusion reactor, it is evidenced that the available data are relevant to the BIT concept geometry. Moreover, it is evidenced that the qualitative reliability evaluations, compared to the quantitative ones, can lead to a better understanding of the typical problems of a structure to be used in a fusion reactor

Experimental Investigation of Ternary Alloys for Fusion Breeding Blankets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, B. William [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Chiu, Ing L. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2015-10-26

Future fusion power plants based on the deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel cycle will be required to breed the T fuel via neutron reactions with lithium, which will be incorporated in a breeding blanket that surrounds the fusion source. Recent work by LLNL proposed the used of liquid Li as the breeder in an inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant. Subsequently, an LDRD was initiated to develop alternatives ternary alloy liquid metal breeders that have reduced chemical reactivity with water and air compared to pure Li. Part of the work plan was to experimentally investigate the phase diagrams of ternary alloys. Of particular interest was measurement of the melt temperature, which must be low enough to be compatible with the temperature limits of the steel used in the construction of the chamber and heat transfer system.

Neutronic investigations on the application of lithium aluminates in the tritium breeding blanket of future fusion reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohsin, A.

1981-02-01

A survey is given about the state of development work at the blanket. It shows that present designs aim at a fusion reactor with low tritium inventory. This aim can be achieved with a solid blanket. In this paper this concept is described and the selection of appropriate materials for the solid blanket is discussed. The lithium aluminates turned out to be the most suitable materials. Comparing the different lithium aluminates the compounds Li 5 AlO 4 and LiAlO 2 proved to be the most favourable. The improvement of the breeding ratio when using lead as neutron multiplier was investigated. Employing, for example, a lead zone of 15 cm thickness in front of a 60 cm thick breeding zone, the tritium breeding ratio is raised to 1.65 for Li 5 Al 4 and to 1.48 for LiAlO 2 - The originally higher breeding ratio of the Li 5 AlO 4 in contrary to the LiAlO 2 is compensated hereby. By this LiAlO 2 becomes a very interesting material for a solid blanket since it furthermore exhibits a higher melting point and higher phase transition temperature. For experimental check of the nuclear data of this material and the computational techniques used, a test model was designed and built. This blanket model was used for measuring the space-dependent tritium production rate, which could be compared to corresponding computations. The assembly was made of a lead zone as neutron multiplier, LiAlO 2 as breeding material, and polyethylene as neutron reflector. (orig.) [de

Numerical studies on the heat transfer and friction characteristics of the first wall inserted with the screw blade for water cooled ceramic breeder blanket of CFETR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Kecheng; Ma, Xuebin; Cheng, Xiaoman; Liu, Songlin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Enhanced heat transfer and friction characteristics of the FW inserted with screw blade is investigated. • The screw blade structure optimization was done on the screw pitch and diameter. • Decreasing screw pitch and increasing screw diameter could further enhance heat transfer accompanied with increasing flow resistance. • Evaluate the overall enhanced heat performance by using the PEC value. - Abstract: The Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) blanket based on Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) condition is one of the blanket candidates for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The first wall (FW) which plays an important part in the blanket design must remove the high heat flux radiated from plasma and nuclear heat deposition on the structure in any operating conditions. In this paper, the characteristics of enhanced heat transfer and friction for the FW with the inserted screw blade are studied by the numerical method. After the comparison between the numerical and experimental results, the standard k–ε turbulent model is selected to do the numerical calculation. The numerical results show that the peak temperature of RAFM steel could be reduced by decreasing screw pitch or increasing screw diameter, while accompanied with ascending flow resistance. Besides, among all of the chosen calculation cases compared with the smooth channel, the maximum value of temperature reduction is 10 °C under the conditions of heat flux of 0.5 MW/m"2 as well as screw pitch of 18 mm and screw diameter of 6 mm. The maximum increment ratio of the friction factor is 257% under the conditions of screw pitch of 10 mm and screw diameter of 4 mm. Furthermore, screw blade of 74 mm pitch and 4 mm diameter presents the highest overall performance evaluation criterion (PEC) value of 0.93 under Reynolds number of 270 000 conditions, and shows the best overall heat transfer enhancement performance.

Numerical studies on the heat transfer and friction characteristics of the first wall inserted with the screw blade for water cooled ceramic breeder blanket of CFETR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Kecheng [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230037 (China); Ma, Xuebin; Cheng, Xiaoman [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China); Liu, Songlin, E-mail: slliu@ipp.ac.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui 230031 (China)

2016-03-15

Highlights: • Enhanced heat transfer and friction characteristics of the FW inserted with screw blade is investigated. • The screw blade structure optimization was done on the screw pitch and diameter. • Decreasing screw pitch and increasing screw diameter could further enhance heat transfer accompanied with increasing flow resistance. • Evaluate the overall enhanced heat performance by using the PEC value. - Abstract: The Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) blanket based on Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) condition is one of the blanket candidates for Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The first wall (FW) which plays an important part in the blanket design must remove the high heat flux radiated from plasma and nuclear heat deposition on the structure in any operating conditions. In this paper, the characteristics of enhanced heat transfer and friction for the FW with the inserted screw blade are studied by the numerical method. After the comparison between the numerical and experimental results, the standard k–ε turbulent model is selected to do the numerical calculation. The numerical results show that the peak temperature of RAFM steel could be reduced by decreasing screw pitch or increasing screw diameter, while accompanied with ascending flow resistance. Besides, among all of the chosen calculation cases compared with the smooth channel, the maximum value of temperature reduction is 10 °C under the conditions of heat flux of 0.5 MW/m{sup 2} as well as screw pitch of 18 mm and screw diameter of 6 mm. The maximum increment ratio of the friction factor is 257% under the conditions of screw pitch of 10 mm and screw diameter of 4 mm. Furthermore, screw blade of 74 mm pitch and 4 mm diameter presents the highest overall performance evaluation criterion (PEC) value of 0.93 under Reynolds number of 270 000 conditions, and shows the best overall heat transfer enhancement performance.

Li2O-pebble type tritium breeding blanket for fusion experimental reactor, 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tone, Tatsuzo; Iida, Hiromasa; Tanaka, Yoshihisa

1984-01-01

The fusion experimental reactor is the next stage device in Japan, which is planned to be constructed following the critical plasma experimental device JT-60 being constructed at present. The breeding blanket installed in nuclear fusion reactors is one of most important structures, and it is required to satisfy the fundamental performance of producing and continuously recovering tritium as the nuclear fusion fuel, and other requirement in good coordination. The Li 2 O pebble type breeding blanket that Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd. has examined is the concept for resolving the problems of the mass transfer and thermal stress cracking of Li 2 O, which are important in blanket design. In this paper, the concept and characteristics of this breeding blanket are discussed from the viewpoint of the breeding and continuous recovery of tritium, the ease of manufacture and the maintenance of soundness. The breeding blanket is composed of breeding region, tritium purge region, cooling region, plasma stabilizing conductors and blanket container. Li 2 O is excellent in its tritium breeding performance and heat conductivity. The functions required for the breeding blanket, the fundamental structure, the examples of breeding blanket concept, the selection of breeding blanket concept, the characteristics of Li 2 O pebble type blanket and its future prospect are described. (Kako, I.)