Helium cooled dual breeder blanket–preliminary design analyses of a candidate breeding blanket concept for near term IndianDEMOfusion reactor

Abstract

Summary Helium cooled dual breeder (HCDB) blanket concept is designed for Indian DEMO fusion reactor and it is made of two tritium breeder materials PbLi and Li2TiO3. It has helium as a coolant and the India specific RAFMS as a structural material. High‐pressure helium first cools the plasma facing first‐wall and after that, it will extract heat from PbLi and ceramic breeder. Since PbLi is not used as a coolant, it therefore circulates with a low flow rate. It will overcome the corrosion and MHD issues associated with high temperature and high flow rate of PbLi. The idea behind the concept is to make a design which can be made using the existing blanket materials, extract high‐grade heat from the reactor and also enhance the availability. In HCDB blanket the role of neutron multiplier is done by PbLi, an alternative to the beryllium and it eliminates the issue associated with high toxic beryllium handling. It can be a potential tritium breeding blanket concept along with lead lithium cooled ceramic breeder (LLCB) and helium cooled ceramic breeder (HCCB) for near term Indian demonstration nuclear fusion power plant. In order to realize the HCDB conceptual design, preliminary estimations of tritium production, nuclear heat density have been carried out. The thermal behaviors of the HCDB blanket in Indian DEMO conditions have been also assessed and reported here. The assessment establishes the proof of HCDB blanket concept and supports it to be a good alternate blanket candidate for the Indian DEMO. The paper describes the HCDB concept along with analysis to verify the tritium self‐sufficiency and materials temperature limits.

Tritium-titanium target degradation due to deuterium irradiation for DT neutron production

“…Primary fuels for fusion energy are deuterium and tritium. Deuterium can be extracted from sea water and tritium can be bred from the 6 Li(n, 3 H) 4 He and 7 Li(n, 3 H + n) 4 He reactions. One major concern associated with fusion reactors is the handling of 14.1 MeV energy neutrons.…”

“…These neutrons are capable of producing gases, radioactive isotopes, and causing displacement damage [2,3], thus affecting the lifetime and functionality of fusion reactor components [4]. From the neutronics point of view, the prime requirements for the successful realisation of fusion power are to have accurate and precise nuclear data for the materials to be used in it [5], to understand the effects of fusion neutrons on reactor components including electronics and structural materials [6] and to investigate tritium breeding capabilities of breeder blankets [7]. The validation of evaluated nuclear cross-section data, investigation of the effects of 14.1 MeV energy neutrons on the fusion reactor components, and tritium breeding capabilities of various breeding blankets require the 14.1 MeV neutron sources at laboratories [8,9].…”

Physics design of 14 MeV neutron generator facility at the Institute for Plasma Research

“…It will be operated on a maximum fusion power of 500 MW [1,2]. Further demonstration reactors for power plants are under design [3][4][5][6][7]. Various design and material irradiation experiments are required to perform to support nuclear fusion power plants.…”

Study of the Effect of Two Phases in Li4SiO4–Li2SiO3 Ceramics on the Strength and Thermophysical Parameters

“…As is known, thermonuclear energy is one of the most promising industries that can become an alternative to hydrocarbon fuel and, also, unlike nuclear energy, does not contain a large amount of nuclear long-lived waste. Thermonuclear energy is based on the mechanisms of using tritium as a nuclear fuel, which is one of the most efficient types of fuel of the near future, which underlies the fuel cycle of thermonuclear reactors [ 4 , 5 ].…”