Speaker
Description
In the framework of the EUROfusion’s Power Plant Physics and Technology, the Working Package Breeding Blanket aims at investigating 4 different Breeding Blanket (BB) concepts for a EU Demonstration Fusion Reactor Concept (DEMO). One of these concepts is the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed BB, which is based on the use of pebble beds of lithium ternary ceramic compounds and beryllium (or beryllides) as tritium breeder and neutron multiplier respectively, Eurofer as structural material and helium as primary coolant. The HCPB is also one of the 2 EU concepts to be tested in ITER in the frame of the Test Blanket Module (TBM) program.
This paper aims at giving an overview of the EU HCPB BB research that is being developed in KIT, in collaboration with Wigner-RCP, the BUTE-INT and CIEMAT. The paper starts giving an outline of the HCPB BB design evolution and state-of-the-art in comparison to the ITER-TBM, its basic functionalities, requirements and performances, and the associated R&D activities for the production and characterization of the ceramic breeder and Be neutron multiplier materials. It also includes a brief description of the manufacturing and testing programs aiming at a consistent realization of the HCPB BB concept through qualification of relevant mock-ups and their tests under relevant out-of-pile conditions in dedicated facilities. Similarly, an overview is given on the research in the key HCPB BB interfacing areas of Tritium Extraction and Recovery systems and their associated technology, as well as the consistent integration of the HCPB Primary Heat Transfer System into the Power Conversion System and the Energy Storage System. Moreover, an outline of the activities for the design of a blanket attachment system and the integration of in-vessel reactor systems are given, as well as a description of the work performed for the investigation of augmented heat transfer FW structures to cope with the local high heat fluxes at several locations of the FW. The paper ends with a discussion of the current standing challenges and future needs which shall aim at developing a credible DEMO HCPB BB system satisfying the basic reactor functionalities and stakeholder requirements.
| Eligible for student paper award? | No |
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