Tritium and heat management in ITER Test Blanket Systems port cell for maintenance operations

Three ITER equatorial port cells are dedicated to the assessment of six different designs of breeding blankets, known as Test Blanket Modules (TBMs). Several high temperature components and pipework will be present in each TBM port cell and will release a significant quantity of heat that has to be extracted in order to avoid the ambient air and concrete wall temperatures to exceed allowable limits. Moreover, from these components and pipes, a fraction of the contained tritium permeates and/or leaks into the port cell. This paper describes the optimization of the heat extraction management during operation, and the tritium concentration control required for entry into the port cell to proceed with the required maintenance operations after the plasma shutdown.     

Tritium management and anti-permeation strategies for three different breeding blanket options foreseen for the European Power Plant Physics and Technology Demonstration reactor study

In DT fusion reactors like DEMO, the commonly accepted tritium (T) losses through the steam generator (SG) shall not exceed about 2 mg/d that are more than 5 orders of magnitude lower than the T production rate of about 360 g/d in the breeding blanket (BB). A very effective mitigation strategy is required balancing the size and efficiency of the processes in the breeding and cooling loops, and the availability and efficiency of anti-permeation barriers. A numerical study is presented using the T permeation code FUS-TPC that computes all T flows and inventories considering the design and operation of the BB, the SG, and the T systems. Many scenarios are numerically analyzed for three breeding blankets concepts – helium cooled pebbles bed (HCPB), helium cooled lithium lead (HCLL), and water cooled lithium lead (WCLL) – varying the T processes throughput and efficiency, and the permeation regimes through the BB and SG to be either surface-limited or diffusion-limited with possible permeation reduction factor. For each BB concept, we discuss workable operation scenarios and suggest specific anti-permeation strategies.     

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

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&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.     

Passive safety in a helium-cooled tritium breeding blanket with steel structure

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 accidents such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or a loss of flow accident (LOFA). This paper proposes a new helium-cooled, tritium breeding blanket concept which uses a metallic structure, and which performs significantly better during such accidents than related designs. The proposed blanket uses modified, reduced-activation HT-9 steel as a structural material and is designed for neutron wall loads exceeding 4 MW/m². This concept uses novel features such as: (1) a beryllium-joint design which allows beryllium to be used to conduct heat away from the first wall, while accommodating swelling of the beryllium, and (2) a shield cooled by naturally circulating water. These features help the blanket passively withstand a worst-case undercooling accident scenario.Supported by a USDOE Magnetic Fusion Energy Technology Fellowship.     

Tritium management in the first-wall materials of A-DC and TAURO blankets

The tritium management in the first wall of two European breeding blanket options, A-DC and TAURO, has been simulated numerically to analyse the influence of the material selected: ODS-RAFM steel for the Advanced Dual-Coolant (A-DC) and SiC_f/SiC composite for TAURO options. The SRIM code has been used to simulate triton implantation and define the tritium source in each kind of material as a function of the depth. The TMAP4 code was used to analyse the posterior transitory gas transport process within the material, while taking into account the tritium transport properties of each material and the temperature variation through material thickness and operating time. Both the transient evolution and the final steady-state tritium transport behaviour have been characterised. The tritium transient flux to the coolant, the recycling flux and the absorbed tritium transient inventories have been simulated. Main conclusions have been drawn about the tritium performance of each first wall.     

Isotope Exchange Capacity on Li4SiO4 and Comparison of Tritium Inventory in Various Solid Breeder Blankets

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 a breeder material, absorption of water vapor into bulk of the grain, adsorption of water on surface of the grain, and exchange capacity of tritium to be trapped to surface of the grain together with two types of isotope exchange reactions for evaluation of the tritium inventory in a solid breeder blanket under various conditions. The isotope exchange capacity on the Li₄SiO₄ surface is experimentally obtained in this study. Most of the properties required for evaluation of the tritium inventory for various blanket materials have been already quantified by the present authors. Then it has become possible to compare the tritium inventory in solid breeder blankets packed with either Li₂O, LiAlO₂, Li₂ZrO₃, Li₂TiO₃ or Li₄SiO₄ using the calculation model previously presented by the present authors.     

我国聚变堆结构材料表面阻氚涂层的研究进展

阻氚涂层是聚变堆实现氚自持及氚安全的关键科学与技术问题之一。我国通过国家磁约束聚变能发展研究专项依托国内优势单位部署了阻氚涂层基础问题及工程化技术研发工作。本文介绍了国内外聚变堆结构材料表面阻氚涂层研究进展,重点评述了近几年我国在阻氚涂层的材料选择、制备技术及阻滞氢渗透机制三个科学技术问题的研究进展,提出今后的研究方向。目前我国阻氚涂层材料类型以氧化物涂层为主,涂层制备工艺技术在不断优化和更新。Al2O3/FeAl阻氚涂层的电化学沉积铝(ECA)、粉末包埋渗铝(PC)及热浸铝(HDA)等方法的工艺处理规模及涂层阻氚性能在国际上均相对领先。发展了研究阻氚涂层阻滞氢渗透作用机理的方法,将通常基于Fick定律的表象研究方法向原子级方法前推了一步。未来需在考虑涂层制备工艺与基体材料成分、性能的关系及其在复杂形状结构件的适用性基础上,开发长寿命、高阻氚性能的阻氚涂层材料及制备工艺。     

Plutonium management and Generation IV systems

This paper discusses the potential role of Generation IV nuclear energy systems in managing plutonium. It briefly reviews the Generation IV goals and their relevance to plutonium management. Each of the six selected Generation IV systems [very high temperature reactor (VHTR), gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), super-critical-water-cooled reactor (SCWR), lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), molten salt reactor (MSR)] is briefly discussed. The main characteristics of each system are summarised and the capability for plutonium management indicated. The potential for the management of plutonium using Generation IV systems is briefly reviewed from a complete fuel cycle perspective to illustrate the issues in the context of a fleet of reactor and fuel cycle facilities.     

海阳核电项目安全管理实践与创新

山东海阳核电项目安全管理体系是在参照国内其他核电站建设经验并依据职业健康安全管理体系规范建立起来的,在组织机构设置、安全程序管理、安全管理过程控制、安全信息管理等方面深度和广度都有所扩展和改进,不断提高安全管理体系的有效性与适宜性,以实现安全管理工作的持续改进。     

Building technical and social confidence in the safety of geological disposal in Japan

Geological disposal has been adopted as the most feasible option for the method of long-term management of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in every country in the world, regardless of the pros and cons of the nuclear power generation. Building stakeholders’ confidence in safety of geological disposal is indispensable to reach the point where the implementation of geological disposal is accepted by the current generation. The safety case is a key input to build confidence in geological disposal stepwise as the program progresses and regarded to play an important role as a common platform in the communication among stakeholders.

The aim of this paper is to review arguments relevant to building technical and social confidence in the progress of Japanese research and development activities as well as international discussions.