Status of Pb-16Li technologies for European DEMO fusion reactor

Utili, Marco; Bassini, Serena; Boccaccini, L.V.; Bühler, L.; Cismondi, F.; Nevo, Alessandro Del; Eboli, Marica; DiFonzo, F.; Hernández, T.; Wulf, Sven-Erik; Kordač, M.; Martelli, Daniele; Valls, E. Mas de les; Melichar, Tomáš; Mistrangelo, C.; Tarantino, M.; Tincani, A.; Vála, L.

doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2019.04.083

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…As a result, the Pb-Li blanket outlet temperature is as high as 1125 • C, which is far above the Pb-Li operation temperature foreseen for a DEMO fusion reactor using an HCLL or WCLL blanket i.e. 300 • C and 328 • C respectively [14,22,23]. Petti et al [21] demonstrated that in case of an ex-vessel leak-of-PbLi accident at ARIES-AT, 0.64 TBq of 210 Po is expected to evaporate in the form of PbPo from the leaked Pb-Li pool (initially at 980 • C) within the first two hours.…”

Section: Safety Analysismentioning

confidence: 88%

Po-210 production in the European DEMO fusion reactor

et al. 2019

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The radionuclide inventory plays a central role in the safety of nuclear installations both during operation and their decommissioning. In nuclear fusion reactors using Pb-Li tritium breeding blankets, the undesired production of radiotoxic 210 Po is still an unresolved safety issue. In this work, neutron transport calculations and inventory calculations are combined to predict the 210 Po inventory in a DEMO fusion reactor using either a Helium Cooled Lithium Lead or a Water Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blanket. In order to guarantee that the environmental 210 Po release associated with an ex-vessel leak-of-PbLi accident remains below the no-evacuation limit, the 210 Po concentration in the Pb-Li should be kept below 1500 appt. It was found that no Pb-Li purification is required to keep the 210 Po concentration in DEMO below this limit. However, in case the Pb-Li makes direct contact with water, more volatile Po-containing (oxy-)hydroxides could form. If these species increase the 210 Po release rate by more than a factor two, safety measures will be required. Therefore, 210 Po generation in DEMO does not pose a hazard in case of a regular ex-vessel leak-of-PbLi accident, unless possibly in case the Pb-Li makes contact with water.

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Section: Safety Analysismentioning

confidence: 88%

Po-210 production in the European DEMO fusion reactor

et al. 2019

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“…PLD characterization demonstrated the feasibility of the scaling-up of the PLD technique to coat WCLL water pipes and BB internals before the assembly, but it is not possible to coat complex geometry or welds. Therefore, it is planned to combine PLD technique with ALD, a Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process that allows to coat all internals [6]. The ALD is a technology for the growth of thin and ultra-thin films with a very accurate thickness control (of the order of 0.5 Å) and with high uniformity and conformity.…”

Section: Coating Technologies and Manufacturing Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design of the Test Section for the Experimental Validation of Antipermeation and Corrosion Barriers for WCLL BB

et al. 2022

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Tritium permeation into the Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS) of DEMO and ITER reactors is one of the challenging issues to be solved in order to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion power plants construction. Several technologies were investigated as antipermeation and corrosion barriers to reduce the tritium permeation flux from the breeder into the PHTS. Within this frame, alumina coating manufactured by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) are two of the main candidates for the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Breeder Blanket (BB). In order to validate the performance of the coatings on relevant WCLL BB geometries, a mock-up was designed and will be characterized in an experimental facility operating with flowing lithium-lead, called TRIEX-II. The present work aims to illustrate the preliminary engineering design of a WCLL BB mock-up in order to deeply investigate permeation of hydrogen isotopes through PHTS water pipes. The permeation tests are planned in the temperature range between 330 and 500 °C, with hydrogen and deuterium partial pressure in the range of 1–1000 Pa. The hydrogen isotopes transport analysis carried out for the design and integration of the mock-up in TRIEX-II facility is also shown.

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“…Within the EUROfusion Work Package Balance of Plant task, an experimental campaign was executed as part of the research activities undertaken at ENEA Brasimone R.C. to investigate the PbLi technology [29][30][31]. A test matrix of five tests was set up for the CIRCE-HERO facility in order to obtain experimental data in operating conditions relevant for the PbLi/water HEX [12] of the EU DEMO fusion reactor.…”

Section: Eurofusion Experimental Campaignmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Investigation on CIRCE-HERO for the EU DEMO PbLi/Water Heat Exchanger Development

et al. 2021

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The present paper describes the experimental campaign executed at the ENEA Brasimone Research Centre aiming at supporting the development of a PbLi/water heat exchanger suitable for the lithium–lead loops of the dual coolant lithium lead and the water cooled lithium lead breeding blankets of the EU DEMO fusion reactor. The experiments were performed in a test section named HERO, installed inside the main vessel of the lead–bismuth eutectic-cooled pool-type facility CIRCE. The test section hosts a steam generator bayonet tube mock-up in relevant scale, which was selected as a promising configuration for DEMO purposes. For the thermal-hydraulic characterization of the component, five tests were executed at different water pressures (6, 8, 12 MPa, two tests at 10 MPa), and liquid metal flow rates (40, 33, 27, 20, 10 kg/s). The experimental outcomes proved the technological feasibility of this novel steam generator and its suitability for the DEMO PbLi loops. The activity was completed with a post-test analysis using two versions of the system code RELAP5. Because the experiments were executed with lead–bismuth eutectic, a scaling analysis is proposed to find the equivalence with PbLi. RELAP5 code was applied to recalculate the experimental data using PbLi as working fluid.

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Status of Pb-16Li technologies for European DEMO fusion reactor

Cited by 23 publications

References 16 publications

Po-210 production in the European DEMO fusion reactor

Po-210 production in the European DEMO fusion reactor

Design of the Test Section for the Experimental Validation of Antipermeation and Corrosion Barriers for WCLL BB

Experimental Investigation on CIRCE-HERO for the EU DEMO PbLi/Water Heat Exchanger Development

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