In ITER, two dedicated equatorial ports are allocated for the TBM (Test Blanket Module) Program in order to allow the operation and testing of Test Blanket Systems (TBS) that are relevant mock-ups of tritium breeding blankets systems for fusion power reactors, using operation parameters typical for power reactors. The ITER baseline 2024 foresees two phases, DT-1 and DT-2. During DT-1, the plan...
The water-cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket has been developing as a near-term solid blanket candidate for the Chinese Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor (CFETR). Meanwhile, the supercritical CO2 cOoled Lithium-Lead (COOL) blanket has been proposed as an advanced candidate in recent years. This presentation reports the overall design and performance analysis for both WCCB and COOL...
In D-T fusion reactors, tritium self-sufficiency is one of the key factors for maintaining steady-state operation. The key factors of tritium breeding materials are effective tritium breeding and stability of performance under long-term service. In terms of tritium breeding, a high lithium atom density is essential to produce substantial amounts of tritium, and good tritium release properties...
The outer fuel cycle (OFC) of a fusion power plant (FPP) is a fundamental component that allows retrieving the bred tritium to permit D-T plasma operations. Moreover, this system plays a fundamental role for the safety of workers and population, acting as a physical barrier that delimits the tritiated circuit, and extracts tritium from the system, thereby diminishing the tritium inventory both...
From the viewpoint of fuel control and tritium safety in a DT fusion reactor, it is important to correctly understand the tritium behavior in the blanket system. Previous studies have shown that the tritium generated by the nuclear reaction of lithium and neutron is released as both of HT and HTO from solid breeder materials such as Li2TiO3 and Li4SiO4. The HT / HTO ratio depends on the kind...
The water-cooled solid breeder concept has been adopted as the concept of tritium breeding blanket for Japanese DEMOnstration fusion reactor (JA DEMO). The coolant water conditions are similar to those of pressurized water reactor, with the temperature of 290 – 325°C and an operation pressure of 15.5 MPa. The design has evolved to simultaneously meet the requirements of structural integrity...
The design of the breeding blanket (BB) system represents one of the biggest challenges towards the accomplishment of the conceptual design of the DEMO fusion reactor, due to its pivotal role in the machine operations. In this regard, novel BB concepts have been recently emerging in Europe with the aim of developing BB configurations capable of surmounting the major criticalities emerged so...
Within the EUROfusion DEMO programme, the Helium Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) breeding blanket is being developed as a reactor-relevant breeding blanket for the European DEMO. The reference design of this concept employs pressurized helium (8 MPa) as the coolant, a lithium-ceramic pebble bed as the tritium breeder, and beryllide blocks (beryllium-based alloys) as neutron multipliers. Tritium...
The choice of breeding blanket configuration represents one of the most critical design aspects for the viability of future D-T fusion power plants. POLITO and Eni have investigated and compared different breeding blanket concepts by evaluating their neutronic performance under consistent reactor boundary conditions. The objective is to provide a systematic assessment of the impact of blanket...
Many public and privately funded fusion reactors are due to begin operation around the middle of the 21st century, the vast majority of which will rely on a deuterium and tritium fuel cycle, with a lithium-containing breeder blanket responsible for providing a sustainable tritium supply. The tritium consumption of large (DEMO-scale) devices will be in the order of 100kg per full power year,...
The breeder blanket for the STEP Prototype Powerplant (SPP) must provide high performance breeding for a spherical tokamak without inboard breeding, materials and coolant compatible with a 600 °C outlet temperature for net power confidence, and a system deliverable on the targeted timescales of the STEP programme. Following a comprehensive assessment of all breeder, coolant, and structural...
The breeding blanket is one of the key components for the realization of fusion energy. It plays multiple roles, including tritium breeding for fuel self-sufficiency, heat extraction for power generation, and neutron and gamma-ray shielding for the protection of other reactor components. Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic (RAFM) steel is the primary candidate for the structural material,...
Fusion breeding blankets must fulfil multiple competing objectives: maximising the extraction of both tritium and heat, minimising damaging irradiation to less resilient components (such as magnets), whilst maintaining temperatures, stresses and radiation doses below safe operational limits. To reduce costs and timescales, exploring those trade-offs efficiently is desirable, mandating an...
The development of next-generation stellarators is rapidly advancing, driven by recent progress in stellarator optimization that enables enhanced MHD stability and reduced turbulence [1]. Alongside public research initiatives, private companies are also pursuing pilot power plant concepts based on these designs. For a fusion reactor to operate sustainably, it must include a breeding blanket...
Within the framework of European fusion strategy, two reference tritium Breeder Blankets concepts are developed to be tested in ITER as Test Blanket Modules (TBMs): Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) which uses liquid Pb-16Li as a breeder and neutron multiplier, and Helium-Cooled Ceramic Pebble (HCCP) with lithiated ceramic pebbles as breeder and beryllium pebbles as neutron multiplier...
A set of different Test Blanket Module (TBM) concepts will be installed on ITER to validate the design and operation in nuclear fusion environment of Breeding Blanket technologies for fusion facilities. AFCEN code RCC-MRx [1] has been selected for the design and the manufacturing of the European TBMs. Reference Procurement Specification and some material properties are already included in the...
In the Fusion Energy, large quantities of beryllium are essential. Tritium as fuel is self-produced in the blanket covering the plasma during operation. Beryllium is essential for the blanket as it multiplies neutrons and produces more tritium. Fusion reactors require more than 350 metric tons of beryllium based on the blanket design. However, there are big issues for beryllium procurement....
Tritium breeding blanket is the core component in the future fusion power plants, which is responsible for tritium breeding, neutron shielding and heat extraction. In order to realize these functions, the blanket component usually is designed as a box-structure modular made of RAFM steel plates, into which the tritium breeding materials and neutron multiplying materials were filled. To exhaust...
The Water-Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) blanket is considered a promising and reduced-risk technology for fusion reactors, owing to its extensive operational experience in pressurized water fission reactors and the well-established understanding of material behavior under neutron irradiation [1,2]. This blanket concept offers a viable pathway for the early realization of energy conversion and...
This work evaluates the roles of ITER, DONES, and the recently proposed European Volumetric Neutron Source (VNS) in achieving the nuclear qualification of the Breeding Blanket (BB) within the European fusion roadmap. Using a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) framework, it identifies how experimental testing progresses from basic material validation (TRL 4) to full system demonstration (TRL 8)....
Breeding Blanket is in charge of breeding tritium for tritium self-sufficiency, shielding neutron for environment protection and extracting fusion energy for electricity generation. There are three candidate blankets for Chinese Fusion Engineering and Test Reactor (CFETR), including the Helium Cooled Ceramic Breeder (HCCB) Blanket, Water Cooled Ceramic Breeder (WCCB) blanket and supercritical...
The volumetric neutron source (VNS) is a compact beam-driven tokamak with D-T plasma to generate a high neutron flux that will allow the testing and qualification of fusion nuclear components, in particular the breeding blanket. Recently, EUROfusion concluded a feasibility study that confirmed the principal feasibility of the machine and the plant for construction and operation. Also, aspects...
The development of breeding blankets is critical for the realization of fusion energy, as they are essential in fuel production and energy generation in fusion reactors. The pre-conceptual design for the K-DEMO blanket has commenced, with the HCCP (Helium-Cooled Ceramic Pebble) blanket concept adopted as the reference design following the KO-EU HCCP TBM project, while other potential design...
The Water-Cooled Lead Lithium (WCLL) is one of the two candidate breeding blanket (BB) concepts actively developed by the EUROfusion consortium for implementation in the European DEMO fusion reactor. DEMO is intended as a technological demonstrator aiming to substantiate the development of nuclear fusion as an energy source by supplying a power conversion system and operating a self-sufficient...
In the general framework of the R&D activities supported by the EUROfusion consortium, the development and qualification of the Breeding Blanket (BB) is seen as a mandatory step in the demonstration and deployment of fusion reactors as a successful energy source. The optimal solution for an early BB concept ought to demonstrate the possibility to reach the fuel self-sufficiency, effectively...
In-Vessel components in fusion nuclear systems have to withstand a very harsh combination of loads and environmental conditions which leads to designs that are significantly more complex and distinct from those of fission components. The ability to accurately predict component performance in in-vessel conditions, factoring in suitable design margins against critical failure mechanisms, is an...
The Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE), in collaboration with Fusion for Energy (F4E), has been actively engaged in the development of manufacturing technologies for the Helium-Cooled Ceramic Pebble (HCCP) Test Blanket Module (TBM) under the ITER program. A key focus is the fabrication and joining of the Cooling Plate (CP) and Breeder Unit (BU), critical components responsible for removing...
Tritium permeation barriers (TPBs) are essential to limit tritium loss and ensure safety in future fusion reactors. This work presents experimental results on hydrogen isotope permeation through Al₂O₃ coatings deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) on fusion-relevant structural materials, including AISI 316L, Nitronic alloys, and Incoloy 800H. Hydrogen...
Developing a sustainable and large-scale nuclear fusion power plant represents one of the most ambitious technological goals of the 21st century. Among the various postulated solutions, magnetic confinement—particularly through tokamaks—stands out as the most advanced and extensively investigated approach. One of the key issues related to the tokamak operation is the need of a plasma pulsed...
