Ripple effect and impact of test blanket module by using RAFM steels on the plasma of ITER

The losses of high-energy particles from the plasma depend on the toroidal field (TF) ripple in Tokomak machine. TBM (test blanket module), using RAFM (reduced activation ferritic/martensitic) steels as structure material, impacts on TF ripple in International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The aim in this paper was to investigate the impact of TBM on TF ripple in ITER. It was analyzed based on ANSYS code and the Chinese DFLL (Dual Function Lithium Lead)-TBM as instances of analysis. The results indicated the TF ripple was still beyond the acceptable level of ITER (δ_TF < 0.3%) while considering several kinds of configurations (different masses, different dimensions, and different distances to plasma) of the DFLL-TBM. The correction coil might be one way to further reduce the effect on ripple of TF, and the ferromagnetic inserts under TF coil need to continue optimized.     

Overview of Helium Cooled Ceramic Reflector Test Blanket Module development in Korea

Korea plans to install and test Helium Cooled Ceramic Reflector (HCCR) Test Blanket Module (TBM) in the ITER, because the HCCR blanket concept is one of options of the DEMO blanket. Currently, many design and R&D activities have been performed to develop the Korean HCCR TBM. An integrated design tool for a fusion breeder blanket has been developed based on nuclear technologies including a safety analysis for obtaining a license for testing in the ITER. A half-scale sub-module mockup of the first wall with the manifold was fabricated, and the manufacturability and thermo-hydraulic performances were evaluated. High heat load and helium cooling test facilities have been constructed. Next, the recent status of TBM material development in Korea was introduced including Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic (RAFM) steel, lithium ceramic pebbles and silicon carbide (SiC) coated graphite pebbles. Several fabrication methods of RAFM steel, lithium ceramic pebbles, and silicon carbide coating on graphite pebbles were investigated. Recent design and R&D progress on these areas are introduced here.     

Activation and Environmental Aspects of In-Vacuum Vessel Components of CFETR

The water-cooled ceramic breeder(WCCB) blanket is one of the three candidates of China's Fusion Engineering Test Reactor(CFETR). The evaluation of the radioactivity and decay heat produced by neutrons for the in-vacuum vessel components is essential for the assessment of radioactive wastes and the safety of CFETR. The activation calculation of CFETR in-vacuum vessel components was carried out by using the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport Code MCNP, IAEA Fusion Evaluated Nuclear Data Library FENDL2.1, and the nuclear inventory code FISPACT-2007 and corresponding EAF-2007 libraries. In these analyses, the three-dimensional(3-D) neutronics model was employed and the WCCB blanket, the divertor, and the shield were modeled in detail to provide the detailed spatial distribution of the neutron flux and energy spectra. Then the neutron flux, energy spectra and the materials specification were transferred to FISPACT for the activation calculation with an assumed irradiation scenario of CFETR. This paper presents the main results of the activation analysis to evaluate the radioactivity, the decay heat, the contact dose, and the waste classification of the radioactive materials. At the time of shutdown, the activity of the WCCB blanket is 1.88×10~(19)Bq and the specific activity, the decay heat and the contact dose rate are 1.7×10~(13)Bq/kg, 3.05 MW, and 2.0×10~3Sv/h respectively. After cooling for 100 years, 79%(4166.4 tons) radioactive wastes produced from the blanket, divertor,high temperature shield(HTS) and low temperature shield(LTS) need near surface disposal, while21%(1112.3 tons) need geological disposal. According to results of the contact dose rate, all the components of the blanket, divertor, HTS and LTS could potentially be recycled after shutdown by using advanced remote handling equipment. In addition, the selection of Eurofer97 or RAFM for the divertor is better than that of SS316 because SS316 makes the activity of the divertor-body keep at a relatively high level.     

Effects of ferromagnetic components on energetic ion confinement in ITER

By using a fully three dimensional magnetic field orbit-following Monte-Carlo code, the energetic ion confinement was investigated for the current conceptual design of the ferromagnetic components in ITER which will be employed for reducing the toroidal magnetic field (TF) ripple. The ferromagnetic insert is effective in the reference standard scenario with Q = 10 (Scenario No. 2) and steady state scenario with Q = 5 (Scenario No. 4) to improve the energetic ion confinement. Over-compensation appears at half of the full toroidal magnetic field and its effect becomes stronger when the quantity of the ferromagnetic insert is increased in order to more reduce the TF ripple at the full toroidal magnetic field. Though the current design is acceptable, whether to increase the ferromagnetic insert to achieve lower TF ripple amplitude at the full field operation depends on how prospected are possibilities of lower field operations. Planned test blanket modules do not induce large loss (<1%) at the full field in Scenario No. 4. At the half field, however, the loss reaches ∼10% for the alpha particles due to localized large TF ripple.     

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.     

Non-axisymmetric magnetic field due to ferromagnetic inserts and helium cooled solid breeder test blanket modules in ITER

An analysis is carried out on the three-dimensional modeling and computation of the magnetic field in ITER. The commercial finite element code ANSYS-EM is employed for this study. In particular, an emphasis is put on the analysis of the characteristics of non-axisymmetric magnetic fields produced by ferromagnetic materials, including ferromagnetic inserts (FIs) and helium cooled solid breeder test blanket modules (TBMs). It is found that the ITER design requirement for toroidal field ripple is violated by the presence of TBMs, even in the presence of FIs. Calculations of TBM-produced error fields also show that TBM produces a significant error field at q = 2 surface exceeding the ITER design requirement. Discussions are made of the potential implication of the TBM-produced non-axisymmetric fields on plasma performance and the design of a TBM emulation system.     

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.     

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.     

聚变制氢堆高温液态包层热工水力学新概念研究

在深入分析聚变堆包层设计要求和目前技术发展水平的基础上,根据热化学工艺制氢需要高温热的要求,提出了一个基于技术相对成熟的低活化铁素体/马氏体钢作为主要结构材料、高压氦气与液态LiPb合金作为冷却剂、具有创新性“多层流道插件”结构方案以获得高温热能的包层热工水力学概念,建立了热工水力学模型,在利用有限元数值模拟程序进行模拟计算的基础上分析了这种新概念包层的可行性。     

R&D status on Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket Technology

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is performing the development of a Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) as one of the most important steps toward DEMO blanket. Regarding the blanket module fabrication technology development using F82H, the fabrication of a real scale mockup of the back wall of TBM was completed. In the design activity of the TBM, electromagnetic analysis under plasma disruption events and thermo-mechanical analysis under steady state and transient state of tokamak operation have been performed and showed bright prospect toward design justification. Regarding the development of advanced breeder and multiplier pebbles for DEMO blanket, fabrication technology development of Li rich Li₂TiO₃ pebble and BeTi pebble was performed. Regarding the research activity on the evaluation of tritium generation performance, the evaluation of tritium production and recovery test using D-T neutron in the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) facility has been performed. This paper overviews the recent achievements of the development of the WCCB Blanket in JAEA.     

Preliminary analysis of compatibility with low activation martensitic steel blanket for the fusion experimental breeder: Impact of ferromagnetic behavior on plasma burning cycle

The reduced activation ferritic martensitic steels is considered a candidate for the first wall (FW) blanket structural material because of its safety environmental advantages [R.L. Klueh, D.S. Geiles, et al., Ferritic/martensitic steels overview of recent results, J. Nucl. Mater. 307-312 (2002) 455-465; T. Muroga, M. Gasparotto, S.J. Zinkle, Overview of materials research for fusion reactors, Fusion Eng. Des. 61-62 (2002) 3-25]. An engineering design analysis concerning the electromagnetic issues is performed. Preliminary analysis results show that design effort of the fusion reactor can cope with the effect of the ferromagnetic FW blanket on the electromagnetic forces, which increases by 28-38% during a major plasma disruption and overcome the influence of the poloidal field, which reduces by 10-20%, comparing with the austenitic steel blanket. Both the effect and influence depend on the saturation magnetic susceptibility and blanket configurations.     

Design of a Wedge-Shaped Toroidal Field Winding for KTX Device

The KTX device is a reversed field pinch(RFP)device currently under construction.Its maximum plasma current is designed as 1 MA with a discharge time longer than 100 ms.Its major radius is 1.4 m and its minor radius is 0.55 m.One of the most important problems in the magnet system design is how to reduce the TF magnetic field ripple and error field.A new wedgeshaped TF coil is put forward for the KTX device and its electromagnetic properties are compared with those of rectangular-shaped TF coils.The error field Bn/Btof wedge-shaped TF coils with6.4 degrees is about 6%as compared with 8%in the case of a rectangular-shaped TF coil.Besides,the wedge-shaped TF coils have a lower magnetic field ripple at the edge of the plasma region,which is smaller than 7.5%at R=1.83 m and 2%at R=1.07 m.This means that the tokamak operation mode may be feasible for this device when the plasma area becomes smaller,because the maximum ripple in the plasma area of the tokamak model is always required to be smaller than 0.4%.Detailed analysis of the results shows that the structure of the wedged-shape TF coil is reliable.It can serve as a reference for TF coil design of small aspect ratio RFPs or similar torus devices.     

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.     

Flow Distribution Analysis of Water-Cooled Solid Breeder Test Blanket Module

Blanket system is one of the most important systems in a fusion reactor, which plays an important role in heat removing, radiation shielding and tritium breeding. Water-cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket module (BM) is one of tritium breeding blanket module concepts for Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor. According to the preliminary design of WCCB BM, there are complicated cascade and parallel cooling channels, in which maybe exists the nonuniform distribution of flow rate, and resulting adverse effect on heat transfer and safety. In this paper, the whole model of one BM is built by thermal hydraulic analytical code named Relap 5 and the flow distribution issue of water-cooled solid breeder (WCSB) test blanket module (TBM) is analyzed. The systematic analysis results show that the flow rate differences of most parts of the WCSB TBM are less than 4 % in a steady state. Start-up, operational transient and loss of flow accident are also studied, and flow instability in these transient cases is found and needs for further analysis. Three dimensional local model of First Wall is also built by CFX, to investigate flow characteristics at partial WCSB TBM, which shows that flow distribution calculated by CFX is consistent with the results from the thermal hydraulic analytical code. Both of the results of the steady state and transient analysis show that the thermal hydraulic analytical code is appropriate in analyzing the flow distribution and transient issue from the systematic view.     

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.     

Development of the Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder Test Blanket Module in Japan

The development of a Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) is being performed as one of the most important steps toward DEMO blanket in Japan. For the TBM testing and evaluation toward DEMO blanket, the module fabrication technology development by a candidate structural material, reduced activation martensitic/ferritic steel, F82H, is one of the most critical items from the viewpoint of realization of TBM testing in ITER. In Japan, fabrication of a real scale first wall, side walls, a breeder pebble bed box and assembling of the first wall and side walls have succeeded. Recently, the real scale partial mockup of the back wall was fabricated. The fabrication procedure of the back wall, whose thickness is up to 90 mm, was confirmed toward the fabrication of the real scale back wall by F82H. Important key technologies are almost clarified for the fabrication of the real scale TBM module mockup. From the view point of testing and evaluation, development of the technology of the blanket tritium recovery, development of advanced breeder and multiplier pebbles and the development of the blanket neutronics measurement technology are also performed. Also, tritium production and recovery test using D-T neutron in the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) facility has been started as the verification test of tritium production performance. This paper overviews the recent achievements of the development of the WCCB TBM in Japan.     

R&D progress of Korean HCSB TBM

Several R&Ds are being performed for Korean helium cooled solid breeder (HCSB) test blanket module (TBM) in the field of hydrogen isotopes permeation characteristics measurement in the helium purge line, joining technologies of structural materials, breeder pebble materials development, and the measurement of pebble bed characteristics. Electron beam welding for reduced activated ferritic–martensitic (RAFM) steel is evaluated to find optimal welding conditions. Also, a hydrogen permeation measurement apparatus is newly installed for the evaluation of the permeation barrier characteristics of stainless steel and RAFM steels. Two fabrication methods of lithium orthosilicate pebbles are investigated using slurry droplet methods. As methods of silicon carbide coating on the graphite pebble, microwave coating and chemical vapor deposition coating are evaluated. Two apparatuses are established to assess the thermo-mechanical properties of graphite and breeder pebble beds. The current status of R&D activities on these areas is introduced and the main progresses are addressed in this paper.     

ITER Vacuum Vessel design and construction

After implementing a few design modifications (referred to as the “Modified Reference Design”) in 2009, the Vacuum Vessel (VV) design had been stabilized. The VV design is being finalized, including interface components such as support rails and feedthroughs for the in-vessel coils. It is necessary to make adjustments to the locations of the blanket supports and manifolds to accommodate design modifications to the in-vessel coils. The VV support design is also being finalized considering a structural simplification. Design of the in-wall shielding (IWS) has progressed, considering the assembly methods and the required tolerances. The detailed layout of ferritic steel plates and borated steel plates was optimized based on the toroidal field ripple analysis. A dynamic test on the inter-modular key to support the blanket modules was performed to measure the dynamic amplification factor (DAF). An R&D program has started to select and qualify the welding and cutting processes for the port flange lip seal. The ITER VV material 316 L(N) IG was already qualified and the Modified Reference Design was approved by the Agreed Notified Body (ANB) in accordance with the Nuclear Pressure Equipment Order procedure.     

CLAM钢中氕氘的渗透与去除

低活化铁素体/马氏体钢（RAFM钢）是聚变堆产氚包层的优选结构材料。氢同位素在结构材料中的扩散渗透特性关系到产氚回收率、燃料循环及运行安全。本工作对国内研发RAFM钢之一的CLAM钢进行了气体驱动的氘渗透实验,得到573～873 K温度范围内氘的宏观溶解度S（mol/(m³•Pa^0.5)）为0.264exp(-22 447/RT),扩散系数D（m²/s）为1.38×10^-7exp(-17 271/RT),渗透率Φ（mol/(m•s•Pa^0.5)）为3.64×10^-8exp(-39 718/RT)。还进行了氕氘气体混合物的渗透实验,确认了渗透同位素效应;探索了钢中溶解氘的真空热释放去除。     

Electromagnetic analysis, structural integrity and progress on mechanical design of the ITER ferromagnetic insert

Ferromagnetic material is used to reduce the toroidal field ripple in JFT-2M [H. Kawashima, et al., Demonstration of ripple reduction by ferritic steel board insertion in JFT-2M, Nucl. Fusion, 41 (2001) 257-263] and JT-60U [H. Takenaga, the JT-60 Team, Overview of JT-60U results for development of steady-state advanced Tokamak scenario, Proceedings of the 21st IAEA Fusion Energy Conference, Chengdu, China, 2006]. In ITER, since the ferromagnetic material is inserted in the space between the double walls of ITER Vacuum Vessel (VV), it is called “ferromagnetic inserts”. Suitable material is selected to satisfy the design requirements of ITER. The proper location and amount of the ferromagnetic inserts are optimized with the goal of reduction of the toroidal field ripple. The ferromagnetic inserts are designed to minimize electromagnetic forces acting on them. The electromagnetic forces have been calculated with the latest disruption scenarios. Magnetization forces due to magnetic fields have also been calculated. Structural integrity has been validated by a structural analysis.