Neutronics Experimental Study on Tritium Production in Solid Breeder Blanket Mockup with Neutron Reflector

Abstract

Neutronics experiments have been performed for the solid breeder blanket using a DT neutron source at the FNS facility in JAEA. We have applied the blanket mockup composed of two enriched Li 2 TiO 3 and three beryllium layers, and measured the detailed spatial distribution of the tritium production rate (TPR) using enriched Li 2 CO 3 pellets. TPRs in the pellets have been measured by a liquid scintillation counter. Experiments have been done under a condition with a neutron reflector surrounding the DT neutron source. Numerical simulations have been performed using the MCNP-4C with the FENDL-2.0 and JENDL-3.3. The ranges of ratios of calculation results to experimental ones (C/Es) are 0.97-1.17 concerning with local TPR, and 1.04-1.09 for the integrated tritium production. It is found that the total integrated tritium production, which corresponds to tritium breeding ratio, can be predicted within uncertainty of 10% using the Monte Carlo calculation code and latest nuclear data libraries.

Investigation on the TPR prediction accuracy in blanket neutronics experiments with reflector at JAEA/FNS

“…At the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) facility of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), a series of blanket neutronics experiments with DT neutrons simulating the WCCB TBM has been carried out for the verification of the prediction accuracy of neutronics performances [2][3][4]. It was demonstrated that the total integrated tritium production in the TBM is predictable within the accuracy of about 10% [3].…”

“…At the Fusion Neutronics Source (FNS) facility of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), a series of blanket neutronics experiments with DT neutrons simulating the WCCB TBM has been carried out for the verification of the prediction accuracy of neutronics performances [2][3][4]. It was demonstrated that the total integrated tritium production in the TBM is predictable within the accuracy of about 10% [3]. However, an approximately 10% systematic overestimation of tritium production rate (TPR) was found only in the experiment with F82H, 6 Li-enriched Li 2 TiO 3 and beryllium when a neutron source reflector composed of type-316 stainless steel (SS316) was attached around the DT neutron source [2].…”