Neutronics Analysis of Water-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket for CFETR

In order to investigate the nuclear response to the water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket models for CFETR, a detailed 3D neutronics model with 22.5otorus sector was developed based on the integrated geometry of CFETR, including heterogeneous WCCB blanket models,shield, divertor, vacuum vessel, toroidal and poloidal magnets, and ports. Using the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code MCNP5 and IAEA Fusion Evaluated Nuclear Data Library FENDL2.1,the neutronics analyses were performed. The neutron wall loading, tritium breeding ratio, the nuclear heating, neutron-induced atomic displacement damage, and gas production were determined.The results indicate that the global TBR of no less than 1.2 will be a big challenge for the watercooled ceramic breeder blanket for CFETR.     

Updated neutronics analyses of a water cooled ceramic breeder blanket for the CFETR

The water cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket employing pressurized water as a coolant is one of the breeding blanket candidates for the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR).Some updating of neutronics analyses was needed,because there were changes in the neutronics performance of the blanket as several significant modifications and improvements have been adopted for the WCCB blanket,including the optimization of radial build-up and customized structure for each blanket module.A 22.5 degree toroidal symmetrical torus sector 3D neutronics model containing the updated design of the WCCB blanket modules was developed for the neutronics analyses.The tritium breeding capability,nuclear heating power,radiation damage,and decay heat were calculated by the MCNP and FISPACT code.The results show that the packing factor and 6Li enrichment of the breeder should both be no less than 0.8 to ensure tritium self-sufficiency.The nuclear heating power of the blanket under 200 MW fusion power reaches 201.23 MW.The displacement per atom per full power year (FPY) of the plasma-facing component and first wall reach 0.90 and 2.60,respectively.The peak H production rate reaches 150.79 appm/FPY and the peak He production reaches 29.09 appm/FPY in blanket module # 3.The total decay heat of the blanket modules is 2.64 MW at 1 s after shutdown and the average decay heat density can reach 11.09 kW m-3 at that time.The decay heat density of the blanket modules slowly decreases to lower than 10 W m-3 in more than ten years.     

Evaluation of Decay Heat in Fusion Experimental Reactor

Decay heat in the blanket and shield of the Fusion Experimental Reactor (FER) was calculated using a newly developed radioactivation calculation code system THIDA-2. The decay heat at various time periods after shutdown were calculated. The decay heat level in the FER blanket was found to be at least one order of magnitude lower than in fission reactors at all time periods after shutdown. The necessity of following the transport of decay γ-rays in obtaining the detailed distribution of decay heat in the blanket was demonstrated. The validity of the γ-ray kerma factors used in the evaluation was also shown.     

Waste management strategy focused on maintenance,storage and recycling

Waste is generated at the moment when the operation of a fusion reactor is halted and maintenance is started for periodic replacement of blanket modules and divertor. Used blanket and divertor need to be replaced shortly after the shutdown for high plant availability, as long as high surface dose rate and decay heat of the blanket and divertor can be handled. In this sense, nuclear characteristics of the blanket and divertor need to be understood for a reasonable maintenance scheme. For the purpose, neutronic calculations were carried out on the blanket and divertor using a THIDA-2 code with FENDL-2.0. For a SlimCS DEMO reactor, the calculated decay heat for each 1/12-sector was as high as 5 MW just after the shutdown and 0.3 MW one month later. For the maintenance, a cooled shielding structure (CSS) was proposed to remove the decay heat and to shield gamma-rays from the sector. When maintenance is done one month after the shutdown, the sector temperature is maintained to be 550 °C or lower with the cooling by the CSS of 50 °C. In order to avoid tritium release from the sector during the maintenance, a cask should be used to transport the sector. For efficient use of resources, breeding and neutron multiplying materials should be reused or recycled. A possible strategy for reuse or recycle is also presented.     

Analysis of Time-Dependent Tritium Breeding Capability of Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket for CFETR

Attaining tritium self-sufficiency is an important mission for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor(CFETR) operating on a Deuterium-Tritium(D-T) fuel cycle. It is necessary to study the tritium breeding ratio(TBR) and breeding tritium inventory variation with operation time so as to provide an accurate data for dynamic modeling and analysis of the tritium fuel cycle. A water cooled ceramic breeder(WCCB) blanket is one candidate of blanket concepts for the CFETR. Based on the detailed 3D neutronics model of CFETR with the WCCB blanket,the time-dependent TBR and tritium surplus were evaluated by a coupling calculation of the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code(MCNP) and the fusion activation code FISPACT-2007.The results indicated that the TBR and tritium surplus of the WCCB blanket were a function of operation time and fusion power due to the Li consumption in breeder and material activation.In addition, by comparison with the results calculated by using the 3D neutronics model and employing the transfer factor constant from 1D to 3D, it is noted that 1D analysis leads to an over-estimation for the time-dependent tritium breeding capability when fusion power is larger than 1000 MW.     

Neutronics Comparison Analysis of the Water Cooled Ceramics Breeding Blanket for CFETR

China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor(CFETR) is an ITER-like fusion engineering test reactor that is intended to fill the scientific and technical gaps between ITER and DEMO.One of the main missions of CFETR is to achieve a tritium breeding ratio that is no less than 1.2to ensure tritium self-sufficiency.A concept design for a water cooled ceramics breeding blanket(WCCB) is presented based on a scheme with the breeder and the multiplier located in separate panels for CFETR.Based on this concept,a one-dimensional(1D) radial built breeding blanket was first designed,and then several three-dimensional models were developed with various neutron source definitions and breeding blanket module arrangements based on the 1D radial build.A set of nuclear analyses have been carried out to compare the differences in neutronics characteristics given by different calculation models,addressing neutron wall loading(NWL),tritium breeding ratio(TBR),fast neutron flux on inboard side and nuclear heating deposition on main in-vessel components.The impact of differences in modeling on the nuclear performance has been analyzed and summarized regarding the WCCB concept design.     

基于RELAP5的CFETR氦冷陶瓷增殖包层模块热工安全分析

本文对中国聚变工程实验堆(CFETR)氦冷陶瓷增殖(HCCB)包层进行热工安全分析。采用大型反应堆瞬态分析程序RELAP5对HCCB包层建模,并进行稳态分析和假设事故的模拟。计算结果表明,CFETR HCCB包层在真空室内氦气泄漏和增殖区盒内氦气泄漏事故中均未出现结构材料熔化,同时各部分的压强变化情况均未超出设计阈值,包层系统在事故发生后均能有效快速地排出余热。CFETR HCCB包层的设计满足热工安全方面的要求。     

An Analysis of Ripple and Error Fields Induced by a Blanket in the CFETR

The Chinese Fusion Engineering Tokamak Reactor(CFETR) is an important intermediate device between ITER and DEMO. The Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder(WCCB)blanket whose structural material is mainly made of Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic(RAFM) steel, is one of the candidate conceptual blanket design. An analysis of ripple and error field induced by RAFM steel in WCCB is evaluated with the method of static magnetic analysis in the ANSYS code. Significant additional magnetic field is produced by blanket and it leads to an increased ripple field. Maximum ripple along the separatrix line reaches 0.53% which is higher than 0.5% of the acceptable design value. Simultaneously, one blanket module is taken out for heating purpose and the resulting error field is calculated to be seriously against the requirement.     

CFETR第一壁及赤道面外包层中子辐照损伤初步分析

中国聚变工程实验堆(Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor,CFETR)的包层和偏滤器第一壁面向堆芯等离子体,第一壁辐照损伤分析对于托克马克安全运行至关重要。赤道面外包层较其它包层距离堆芯等离子体中心更近,其结构材料承受中子辐照大。因此,进行中子辐照损伤评估十分必要。基于此目的,采用计算机辅助设计(Computer Aided Design,CAD)模型和蒙特卡罗中子学建模转换接口Mc CAD完成中子学建模,并用蒙特卡罗方法的粒子输运程序计算第一壁和氦冷固态外包层结构材料辐照损伤。此外,对比了铍和钨作为面向等离子体材料两种情况下第一壁的受损情况。计算结果表明,氦冷固态包层模型下结构材料可以满足CFETR一期的运行要求。     

Thermal Hydraulic Design and Analysis of a Water-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket with Superheated Steam for CFETR

The water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket (WCCB) is one of the blanket candidates for China fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR). In order to improve power generation efficiency and tritium breeding ratio, WCCB with superheated steam is under development. The thermal-hydraulic design is the key to achieve the purpose of safe heat removal and efficient power generation under normal and partial loading operation conditions. In this paper, the coolant flow scheme was designed and one self-developed analytical program was developed, based on a theoretical heat transfer model and empirical correlations. Employing this program, the design and analysis of related thermal-hydraulic parameters were performed under different fusion power conditions. The results indicated that the superheated steam water-cooled blanket is feasible.     

Investigation of the packing structure of pebble beds by DEM for CFETR WCCB

Li₂TiO₃/Be₁₂Ti mixed pebble beds with multi-sized particles are one of the potential candidates for the WCCB (water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket) of the CFETR (China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor). To meet the neutronics requirements of a WCCB, a study of the packing structure of the concerned pebble bed is necessary. In this paper, the discrete element method (DEM) is applied to produce a prototypical blanket pebble bed by directly simulating the contact state of each individual particle using basic interaction laws. According to the current simulation, the packing factor of a mono-sized pebble bed is 0.62–0.64, while the value will become more than 0.75 for Li₂TiO₃/Be₁₂Ti mixed breeding pebble bed with a diameter ratio of not less than 5 as well as an appropriate mixed volume ratio, and thus can meet the neutronics requirements.     

Preliminary thermal hydraulic safety analysis of water-cooled ceramic breeder blanket for CFETR

The Chinese fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR) was expected to bridge from the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) to the demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO). The water-cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket is one of the blanket candidates for CFETR. In this paper, preliminary thermal hydraulic safety analyses have been carried out using the system safety analysis code RELAP5 originally developed for light water fission reactors. The pulse operation and three typical loss of coolant accidents (LOCAs), namely, in-vessel LOCA, in-box LOCA, and ex-vessel LOCA, were simulated based on steady-state initialization. Simulation results show that important thermal hydraulic parameters, such as pressure and temperature can meet the design criterion which preliminarily verifies the feasibility of the WCCB blanket from the safety point of view.     

Some technological problems of fusion materials management

Within the framework of the International Energy Agency Program on Environmental, Safety and Economic Aspects of Fusion Power, an international collaborative study on management of fusion radioactive materials has been carried out to examine the back-end of the materials cycle. The strategy for handling fusion activated materials calls for three potential schemes: clearance, recycling and disposal. There is a growing international effort to avoid the underground disposal, for fusion in particular. Plasma facing components (divertor and blanket) normally contain high radioactivity and are not clearable. As clearance of sizeable components (such as biological shield, cryostat, vacuum vessel, and some constituents of magnets) is highly desirable, we identified the source of radioisotopes that hinder the clearance of these components and investigated the impact of impurity control. Another study assessed radioactivity build-up under repeated use of the divertor made of W–La₂O₃ alloy. Effect of impurities on activated materials management is illustrated by the examples of carbon-14 generation and impurities activation in concrete of biological shield. We think that consideration of activated materials management scenarios presented in this paper by example of blanket and divertor replacement is of interest as well.     

Analyses of Passive Plasma Shutdown during Ex-vessel Loss of Coolant Accident in the First Wall/Shield Blanket of Fusion Reactor

An ex-vessel loss of coolant accident (LOCA) in the first wall/shield blanket of a fusion reactor has been analyzed by a hybrid code consisting of plasma dynamics and heat transfer analysis of in-vessel components. We investigated possibility of passive plasma shutdown scenario during the accident in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The safety analysis code which we developed can treat impurity concentration from the first wall and the divertor with a transport probability into the main plasma and a time delay given as input. It was found that the plasma is passively shutdown by a density limit disruption due to beryllium release from heated first wall surfaces about 168 seconds after the LOCA, when the transport probability of beryllium from the first wall into the plasma and the time delay were assumed to be 10^?2 and the energy confinement time, respectively. At that time, the surface temperature of the outboard center (plasma facing component (PFC) with beryllium) and the temperature of the coolant tube in the first wall (stainless steel 316) reach about 1,120°C and about 1,080°C, respectively. Although the coolant tube does not melt, the copper heat sink between the PFC and the coolant tube melts before the passive shutdown. The heat sink of copper in the outboard baffle also melts before the passive shutdown, though the PFC surface of tungsten does not melt. Consequently, we have a possibility of passive plasma shutdown before the cooling tubes melt during the ex-LOCA of the first walllshield blanket in ITER, however, further studies are needed on the effects on plasma burn control, impurity release and emission of implanted D-T fuel.     

CFETR氦冷陶瓷增殖包层中子学分析

为满足中国聚变工程实验堆(CFETR)包层的应用要求,本文提出氦冷陶瓷增殖(HCCB)包层方案。为验证HCCB包层设计方案的合理性与可行性,采用三维蒙特卡罗粒子输运程序MCNP,计算和分析了HCCB包层方案的氚增殖比、中子壁负载、中子通量密度、核热、辐照损伤等中子学特性。结果表明,HCCB包层方案满足氚自持要求,中子通量密度和核热分布合理,屏蔽性能良好,基本满足设计要求。     

Design of snowflake-diverted equilibria of CFETR

The Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR) represents the next generation of full superconducting fusion reactors in China.Recently,CFETR was redesigned with a larger size and will be operated in two phases.To reduce the heat flux on the target plate,a snowflake (SF) divertor configuration is proposed.In this paper we show that by adding two dedicated poloidal field (PF) coils,the SF configuration can be achieved in both phases.The equilibria were calculated by TEQ code for a range of self-inductances li3.The coil currents were calculated at some fiducial points in the flattop phase.The results indicate that the PF coil system has the ability to maintain a long flattop phase in 7.5 and 10 MA inductive scenarios for the single null divertor (SND) and SF divertor configurations.The properties of the SF configuration were also analyzed.The connection length and flux expansion of the SF divertor were both increased significantly over the SND.     

环境水体中~(90)Sr和~(137)Cs的监测方法

以国家标准为基础,对环境水体中~(90)Sr和~(137)Cs的监测方法进行了技术改进:增大采样量(50~100L),选择高效沉淀剂和低水平探测器。采用改进后的方法测定了50~100L水中~(90)Sr和~(137)Cs,结果显示:~(90)Sr和~(137)Cs的浓集效率分别为(91.3±2.8)%和(97.2±1.4)%;~(90)Sr的全程回收率为81.5%±2.8%;~(90)Sr和~(137)Cs的探测下限分别为8.6×10~(-4) Bq/L和9.8×10~(-4) Bq/L。50L水中~(90)Sr的比对结果显示,4家实验室测定值与标称值的相对偏差均小于11%。以上结果表明,该方法适用于环境水中微量~(90)Sr和~(137)Cs的监测,可满足环境本底调查和环境监测的要求。     

Neutronic investigation and activation calculation for CFETR HCCB blankets

The neutronic calculations and activation behavior of the proposed helium cooled ceramic breeder(HCCB) blanket were predicted for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor(CFETR) design model using the MCNP multi-particle transport code and its associated data library. The tritium self-sufficiency behavior of the HCCB blanket was assessed, addressing several important breeding-related arrangements inside the blankets. Two candidate first wall armor materials were considered to obtain a proper tritium breeding ratio(TBR). Presentations of other neutronic characteristics, including neutron flux, neutron-induced damages in terms of the accumulated dpa and helium production were also conducted. Activation, decay heat levels and contact dose rates of the components were calculated to estimate the neutron-induced radioactivity and personnel safety. The results indicate that neutron radiation is efficiently attenuated and slowed down by components placed between the plasma and toroidal field coil.The dominant nuclides and corresponding isotopes in the structural steel were discussed. A radioactivity comparison between pure beryllium and beryllium with specific impurities was also performed. After a millennium cooling time, the decay heat of all the concerned components and materials is less than 1?×?10-4 k W, and most associated in-vessel components qualify for recycling by remote handling. The results demonstrate that acceptable hands-on recycling and operation still require a further long waiting period to allow the activated products to decay.     

A study on nuclear analysis of the divertor region of the CFETR

This paper presents the nuclear analysis performance of the Chinese Fusion Engineering Test Reactor(CFETR)divertor region using the MCNP-5 Monte Carlo N-particles code in a 3D geometry model.We assessed the nuclear responses of the divertor region component systems and evaluated their shielding capability,which can support the development strategy of the physical and engineering design of the CFETR.Model specification based on the latest CAD model of the CFETR divertor has been integrated into the CFETR MCNP reference model with a major/minor radius R=7.2 m/a=2.2 m in the 22.5° model,and a fusion-power range of around 1-1.5 GW.The nuclear heating and radiation damage of the divertor system are enhanced compared to that of the ITER and the earlier CFETR design.The initial nuclear responses of the toroidal field coil and vacuum vessel systems showed that the shielding of the current divertor design is not sufficient and optimization work has been carried out.We also carried out calculations and analysis using a hypothetical operating scenario of over 14 years.An excellent improvement in the nuclear performance has been obtained by the improved additional shielding block in the divertor region when referring to the ITER design limit,which can support the design of the future update of the divertor region systems of the CFETR.     

Availability Analysis for CFETR

Availability analysis for Chinese fusion engineering testing reactor (CFETR) is very important at the pre-conceptual phase. Availability apportion are the theoretical basis of system design of CFETR. Availability analysis informs the development of the CFETR overall system and subsystem design. Availability analysis will enable the identification of key subsystems to achieve availability targets. The duty cycle of CFETR should be at least 0.3–0.5. Such design goals require all subsystems of CFETR must have a pretty high availability. The availability of CFETR can be defined by break time analysis results. Analysis results proved that the availability of CFETR is 0.5–0.7. All availability subsystems of CFETR can be apportioned from their relevant mean time before failure (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) data to meet the availability goals. The relation between reliability, maintainability and availability indicates that a subsystem could have a high availability though its reliability is pretty low. Availability apportionment and analysis indicate that the availability of blanket and divertor should be 0.769–0.91 to meet the design requirements and their availability can be improved by increase the MTBF and reduce the MTTR of blanket and divertor with the development of remote handling or remote maintenance technology for fusion reactor.