Potential and limits of water-cooled Pb–17Li blankets and divertors for a fusion power plant

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design Vol. 49; pp. 543 - 549
• Main Authors: Fütterer, M.A, Barleon, L, Giancarli, L, Puma, A.Li, Ogorodnikova, O.V, Poitevin, Y, Salavy, J.F, Szczepanski, J, Vella, G
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-11-2000; New York, NY Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Breeding blankets; Controled nuclear fusion plants; Cooling water; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Fusion reactors; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; Martensite; Oxide dispersion strengthened steel; Reduced-activation ferritic–martensitic steel; Thermodynamic stability; Water cooled reactors; Water-cooled Pb–17Li blanket; Water-cooled Pb–17Li blanket; Oxide dispersion strengthened steel; Reduced-activation ferritic–martensitic steel; Ferritic martensitic steel; Nuclear fusion reactor; Blanket; Water cooling; Divertor; Oxides; Thermomechanical properties; Nuclear reactor
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/S0920-3796(00)00276-3

Blankets and divertors are key components of a fusion power plant. They have a large impact on the overall plant design, its performance and availability, and on the cost of electricity. The water-cooled Pb–17Li (WCLL) blanket uses reduced activation ferritic–martensitic steel as structural material. It was previously validated under numerous aspects such as TBR, mechanical and thermo-mechanical stability, thermal–hydraulics, MHD, safety and others. This was done assuming the specifications for a European DEMOnstration reactor which were fixed back in 1989. A WCLL blanket would best be combined with a water-cooled divertor so that a single coolant could be used for the entire reactor. Several divertor designs were proposed recently. This paper investigates the applicability of the WCLL blanket concept and a water-cooled divertor in attractive power reactors with increased power densities compared with DEMO.