Toward the ultimate goal of tritium self-sufficiency: Technical issues and requirements imposed on ARIES advanced power plants

El-Guebaly, L.; Malang, S.

doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2008.12.098

Cited by 83 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Then, we have computed the TBR as function of the First Wall steel substrate thickness. The maximum FW substrate thickness has been found to be as 5.5 cm to obtain a TBR>1.15 [2]. This result opens the possibility of decoupling the cooling of the blanket and the First Wall.…”

Section: Self-cooled Lead Lithium Blanketmentioning

confidence: 75%

Studies of a self-cooled lead lithium blanket for HiPER reactor

Juárez

Sanz

Sánchez

et al. 2013

EPJ Web of Conferences

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Abstract. Within the frame of the HiPER reactor, we propose and study a Self Cooled Lead Lithium blanket with two different cooling arrangements of the system First Wall -Blanket for the HiPER reactor: Integrated First Wall Blanket and Separated First Wall Blanket. We compare the two arrangements in terms of power cycle efficiency, operation flexibility in out-off-normal situations and proper cooling and acceptable corrosion. The Separated First Wall Blanket arrangement is superior in all of them, and it is selected as the advantageous proposal for the HiPER reactor blanket. However, it still has to be improved from the standpoint of proper cooling and corrosion rates.

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Section: Self-cooled Lead Lithium Blanketmentioning

confidence: 75%

Studies of a self-cooled lead lithium blanket for HiPER reactor

Juárez

Sanz

Sánchez

et al. 2013

EPJ Web of Conferences

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“…Although simply surrounding a fusion neutron source with natural lithium can, in theory, produce up to 70% more tritium than required, the practical reality is more difficult [1]. There needs to be a box structure to contain the lithium compound, there needs to be coolant flowing to take away the large amounts of energy deposited by the neutrons and we want to restrict the thickness of the structure to minimise the size of the containing magnets.…”

Section: Fusion Characteristics As An Energy Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Fusion as a future energy source

Ward

2016

Europhysics News

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FEATURES 32 Fusion Characteristics as an Energy SourceResources The potential energy resource from fusion is enormous, primarily because the energy produced per unit mass of fuel is so large, and this is the principal reason why fusion R&D has been pursued. If we were able to harness energy simply from the fusion of two deuterium atoms (D-D fusion), which is possible in theory but difficult in practise, we could supply mankind's energy needs for billions of years. At present, however, we have a much less ambitious target, the fusion of deuterium with tritium (D-T fusion), which is roughly 100 times higher in cross-section. As tritium decays with a half-life of 12.3 years, it is not abundant on Earth so the plan is for a fusion power plant to be self-sufficient in tritium, using the neutrons which result from the fusion reaction to convert lithium into tritium. With present estimated fuel reserves of lithium, there is enough to provide mankind's energy needs for thousands of years, by which time we may have solved the problem of D-D fusion.Designing a fusion plant to be self-sufficient in tritium is not a trivial problem. Although simply surrounding a fusion neutron source with natural lithium can, in theory, produce up to 70% more tritium than required, the practical reality is more difficult [1]. There needs to be a box structure to contain the lithium compound, there needs to be coolant flowing to take away the large amounts of energy deposited by the neutrons and we want to restrict the thickness of the structure to minimise the size of the containing magnets. In existing designs, changing the isotopic mix of the lithium and including a neutron multiplier such as beryllium or lead are used as tools to produce an optimised design, but this is far from complete and demonstrated. Tests of these fusion blankets are proposed for the ITER device.One aspect of tritium supply will relate to the growth phase of fusion power. To start up a new power plant, an initial inventory of tritium is required and this will have to come either from another fusion plant or from a fission plant. Particularly in the early implementation phase, it is important to minimise the inventory of tritium needed to start up a new plant whilst ensuring sufficient tritium is available. WasteOne of the differentiating factors of fusion when compared to fission is the waste products. Unlike fission, fusion reactions do not produce radioactive waste directly but the neutrons can cause radioactivity in the surrounding materials -hence the emphasis on developing and testing of low activation materials, those that do not generate long-lived radioactive waste [2]. The same happens in fission plants of course but there the structural activation is a very small part of the waste produced -in fusion it is the dominant part. One goal of the fusion R&D programme is to optimise the use of materials, for instance to minimise the need for repository storage, perhaps to zero, but this is not guaranteed. Optimising material properties is a key, and somewhat neg...

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“…The most attractive scheme for the LiPb breeder in particular is to increase/decrease the 6 Li enrichment online shortly after plant operation [5]. This helps mitigate concerns about the danger of placing the plant at risk due to tritium shortage as well as the problem of handling and safeguarding any surplus of tritium.…”

Section: The Tritium Breeding Issue and Realitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of ARIES nuclear assessments: neutronics, shielding, and activation

El-Guebaly¹,

theARIESTeam²

2014

Progress in Nuclear Science and Technology

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Power plant projects, like ARIES, present an essential element of the US fusion developmental process in order to provide a perspective on potential fusion concepts and understand future trends. The nuclear assessment has been a fundamental element of the ARIES project since its inception in the early 1990s. Over the years, we performed state-of-the-art assessments to understand the rational basis for the damaging/enhancing changes to the tritium breeding of several design elements. Equally important, we developed a new scheme to control the tritium breeding online, novel approaches to deliver well-optimized shields for various fusion concepts, and a new strategy to handle the continuous stream of radioactive materials and minimize the radwaste burden for future generations. The collective impact of such innovations has done much to shape the design development of the various ARIES concepts over the past 20 years.

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Toward the ultimate goal of tritium self-sufficiency: Technical issues and requirements imposed on ARIES advanced power plants

Cited by 83 publications

References 24 publications

Studies of a self-cooled lead lithium blanket for HiPER reactor

Studies of a self-cooled lead lithium blanket for HiPER reactor

Fusion as a future energy source

Overview of ARIES nuclear assessments: neutronics, shielding, and activation

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