Summary
One of the most important parameters in the design of the fusion‐fission hybrid reactor is the selection of the first wall material. Because the oxide dispersion‐strengthened (ODS) steel alloys have high temperature oxidation, high radiation resistance, good hardness, and corrosion resistance properties, they are thought first wall candidate materials for fusion and fission applications. The objective of this paper is to determine the best radiation damage parameters of various experimental and commercial ODS steels (namely, 12Y1, 12YWT, 1DS, IDK, Eurofer97, MA956, MA957, and PM 2000). Neutron spectrum and average neutron energy throughout blanket, displacement per atom, hydrogen and helium production, nuclear heating, and tritium breeding ratio were calculated by using Monte Carlo methods with Monte Carlo neutron‐photon transport code and nuclear libraries named as ENDF/B‐VI and CLAW‐IV. It is assumed that calculated reactor has been operated full power during a year and neutron wall load is 2.25 MW/m2 (1014 n/s). All investigated first wall materials should be replaced between 3.5 and 4 years. All investigated materials provide minimum required tritium breeding ratio value, and when considering all the calculations performed in this work, 1DS ODS steel is the most suitable first wall materials with respect to other investigated ODS steels.
Summary
In this study, both pure fusion blanket and fusion‐fission (hybrid) reactor blanket performance were investigated and discussed separately in two phases. In the first phase, a Monte Carlo radiation damage analysis has been performed for stainless steel (SS304, SS316, and oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS)), molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten as the first wall (FW) materials, in combination with selected tritium breeders. The main technical parameters for fusion reactors, such as tritium breeding ratio, fusion energy multiplication factor (M), displacement per atom (DPA), and gas production (He, H) have been evaluated. All numerical calculations have been carried out in spherical geometry with MCNP6 code package using continuous energy cross‐sections from the ENDF/B‐VIII.0 library, except DPA calculations. Instead of the ENDF/B‐VIII.0 library, the 30‐group CLAW‐IV library was employed for DPA calculations. Structural material selection for the FW respect to radiation damage limits and reactor performance for energy production and tritium has been concluded. Conventional thermal reactors, such as light water reactors andCanada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors are producing substantial quantities of transuranic elements, which represent serious nuisance and permanent hazard potential. On the other hand, they become fissionable material under high energetic fusion neutron irradiation and multiply the fusion energy. In the second phase, the investigations are extended to the incineration of minor actinides (MA) in the fusion‐fission (hybrid) mode. The transmutation history of MA nuclear waste is included. MA are added into the first zone of the coolant in TRi‐structural ISOtropic particle TRISO particles with a volume fraction of 6%. The transformation scenario for all MA by SS 304 steel FW is practically the same as with the ODS FW.
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