Y. Gohar

High power density self-cooled lithium-vanadium blanket

A self-cooled lithium-vanadium blanket concept capable of operating with 2 MW/m{sup 2} surface heat flux and 10 MW/m{sup 2} neutron wall loading has been developed. The blanket has liquid lithium as the tritium breeder and the coolant to alleviate issues of coolant breeder compatibility and reactivity. Vanadium alloy (V-4Cr-4Ti) is used as the structural material because it can accommodate high heat loads. Also, it has good mechanical properties at high temperatures, high neutron fluence capability, low degradation under neutron irradiation, good compatibility with the blanket materials, low decay heat, low waste disposal rating, and adequate strength to accommodate the electromagnetic loads during plasma disruption events. Self-healing electrical insulator (CaO) is utilized to reduce the MHD pressure drop. A poloidal coolant flow with high velocity at the first wall is used to reduce the peak temperature of the vanadium structure and to accommodate high surface heat flux. The blanket has a simple blanket configuration and low coolant pressure to reduce the fabrication cost, to improve the blanket reliability, and to increase confidence in the blanket performance. Spectral shifter, moderator, and reflector are utilized to improve the blanket shielding capability and energy multiplication, and to reduce the radial blanket thickness. Natural lithium is used to avoid extra cost related to the lithium enrichment process.

US-ITER Activation Analysis

Activation analysis has been made for the US ITER design. The radioactivity and the decay heat have been calculated, during operation and after shutdown for the two ITER phases, the Physics Phase and the Technology Phase. The Physics Phase operates about 24 full power days (FPDs) at fusion power level of 1100 MW and the Technology Phase has 860 MW fusion power and operates for about 1360 FPDs. The point-wise gamma sources have been calculated everywhere in the reactor at several times after shutdown of the two phases and are then used to calculate the biological dose everywhere in the reactor. Activation calculations have been made also for ITER divertor. The results are presented for different continuous operation times and for only one pulse. The effect of the pulsed operation on the radioactivity is analyzed. 6 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab.

Breeder and test blankets in ITER

Abstract An overview of ITER efforts is presented in this paper in the area of blanket development and ITER test program preparation. The design of ceramic and eutectic options of the driver blanket were developed aimed on a reliable operation and adequate tritium production. With an estimated net tritium breeding ratio of 0.8–0.95 ITER is able to achieve testing fluence goal of 1 MWa/m 2 during 8 years of technology phase operation. The test program was developed to ensure realistic extrapolation to DEMO on the basis of ITER experience. Submodules for the blanket, high heat flux components and material testing are to be inserted in especially designed test ports. Tests are provided for DEMO-relevant blanket design concepts.

First wall/blanket/shield design and optimization system

A first wall/blanket/shield design and optimization system (BSDOS) has been developed to provide a state-of-the-art design tool for fast, accurate analysis. In addition, it has been designed to perform several other functions: (a) allowing comparison and evaluation studies for different concepts using the same data bases and ground rules, (b) permitting the use of any figure of merit in the evaluation studies, (c) optimizing the first wall/blanket/shield design parameters for any figure of merit under several design constraints, (d) permitting the use of different reactor parameters in the evaluation and optimization analyses, (e) allowing the use of improved engineering data bases to study the impact on the design performance for planning future research and development, and (f) evaluating the effect of the data base uncertainties on the design performance. BSDOS is the first design and optimization system to couple the highly interacting neutronics, heat transfer, thermal hydraulics, stress analysis, radioactivity and decay-heat analyses, tritium balance, and capital cost. A brief description of the main features of BSDOS is given in this paper. Also, results for using BSDOS to perform design analysis for several reactor components are presented.

Projections for a steady-state tokamak reactor based on the international thermonuclear experimental reactor

This paper examines the extensions of the physics and engineering guidelines for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) device needed for acceptable operating points for a steady-state tokamak power reactor. Noninductive current drive is provided in steady state by high-energy neutral beam injection in the plasma core, lower hybrid slow waves in the outer regions of the plasma, and bootstrap current. Three different levels of extension of the ITER physics/engineering guidelines, with differing assumptions on the possible plasma beta, elongation, and aspect ratio, are considered for power reactor applications. Plasma gain Q = fusion power/input power in excess of 20 and average neutron wall fluxes from 2.3 to 3.6 MW/m{sup 2} are predicted in devices with major radii varying from 7.0 to 6.0 m and aspect ratios from 2.9 to 4.3.

Tritium Breeding Blanket

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 D requirements to qualify the design have been identified. 4 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.

U.S. Solid Breeder Blanket Design for ITER

The US blanket design activity has focused on the developments and the analyses of a solid breeder blanket concept for ITER. The main function of this blanket is to produce the necessary tritium required for the ITER operation and the test program. Safety, power reactor relevance, low tritium inventory, and design flexibility are the main reasons for the blanket selection. The blanket is designed to operate satisfactorily in the physics and the technology phases of ITER without the need for hardware changes. Mechanical simplicity, predictability, performance, minimum cost, and minimum R D requirements are the other criteria used to guide the design process. The design aspects of the blanket are summarized in this paper. 2 refs., 7 figs., 3 tabs.

Activation Characteristics of Different Steel Alloys Proposed for Near Term Fusion Reactors

Analyses have been made for different structural alloys proposed for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Candidate alloys include austenitic steels stabilized with nickel (NiSS) or manganese (MnSS). The radioactivity, the decay heat, and the waste disposal rating of each alloy have been calculated for the inboard shield of the ITER design option utilizing water cooled solid breeder blanket. The results show, for the 55 cm inboard shield and after 3 MW.yr/m2 fluence, that the long term activation problems, e.g., radioactive waste, of the MnSS are much less than that of the NiSS. All the MnSS alloys considered are qualified as Class C or better low level waste. Most of the NiSS alloys are not qualified for near surface burial. However, the short term decay heat generation rate for the MnSS is much higher than that of the NiSS. 6 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.

Neutron shielding and its impact on the ITER machine design

Abstract This paper describes the efforts made in the frame of the ITER project to analyze the shielding of the superconducting magnets. First, the radiation limits to be achieved are specified as well as the neutron source in terms of wall loading on the first wall of the machine. Then the general shield concept is explained, including the most essential details of the various shield components. A brief section is devoted to the calculational tools, the data base, and the safety factors to be applied to the results obtained. The neutronics models of four different configurations are summarized as they were used to study the most critical parts of the machine. This section is followed by a presentation of the most important results from one-, two- and three-dimensional calculations. They are given for both the reference design and an improved one in which the critical regions are reinforced with respect to their shielding capability. It is concluded that the ITER shield layout just marginally meets the stated limits provided that some tungsten is included in the critical regions. A slight revision of the overall machine dimensions with the aim to achieve a less complex shield and a higher margin with respect to the limits is, however, seen the better solution.

Solid breeder blanket option for the ITER conceptual design

A solid-breeder, water-cooled blanket option based on a multilayer configuration was developed for the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor). The blanket uses beryllium for neutron multiplication and lithium oxide for tritium breeding. The material forms are sintered products for both materials with 0.8 density factor. The lithium-6 enrichment is 90%. The blanket can accommodate a factor of two change in the neutron wall loading without violating the different design guidelines. 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. At the same time, the reliability and the safety aspects of the blanket are enhanced by using a low-pressure coolant and separating the tritium purge lines from the coolant system. The blanket modules are made by hot vacuum forming and diffusion bonding a double-wall structure with integral cooling channels. The different aspects of the blanket design including tritium breeding, nuclear heat deposition, activation analyses, thermal-hydraulics, tritium inventory, structural analyses, and water-coolant conditions are summarized.<<ETX>>