A passively-safe fusion reactor blanket with helium coolant and steel structure [electronic resource].
- Published
- Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy, 1994.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy. - Physical Description
- 395 pages : digital, PDF file
- Additional Creators
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States. Department of Energy, and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Access Online
- Restrictions on Access
- Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
- Summary
- Helium is attractive for use as a fusion blanket coolant for a number of reasons. It is neutronically and chemically inert, nonmagnetic, and will not change phase during any off-normal or accident condition. A significant disadvantage of helium, however, is its low density and volumetric heat capacity. This disadvantage manifests itself most clearly during undercooling accident conditions such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or a loss of flow accident (LOFA). This thesis describes a new helium-cooled tritium breeding blanket concept which performs significantly better during such accidents than current designs. The proposed blanket uses reduced-activation ferritic steel as a structural material and is designed for neutron wall loads exceeding 4 MW/m². The proposed geometry is based on the nested-shell concept developed by Wong, but some novel features are used to reduce the severity of the first wall temperature excursion. These features include the following: (1) A ``beryllium-joint`` concept is introduced, which allows solid beryllium slabs to be used as a thermal conduction path from the first wall to the cooler portions of the blanket. The joint concept allows for significant swelling of the beryllium (10 percent or more) without developing large stresses in the blanket structure. (2) Natural circulation of the coolant in the water-cooled shield is used to maintain shield temperatures below 100 degrees C, thus maintaining a heat sink close to the blanket during the accident. This ensures the long-term passive safety of the blanket.
- Report Numbers
- E 1.99:doe/er/54235--2
E 1.99: pfc/rr--94-4
pfc/rr--94-4
doe/er/54235--2 - Subject(s)
- Other Subject(s)
- Dissertation Note
- Thesis (Ph.D.); PBD: Apr 1994
- Note
- Published through SciTech Connect.
04/01/1994.
"doe/er/54235--2"
" pfc/rr--94-4"
"DE94018656"
"AT0530020/AT0530030"
""
Crosswait, K.M. - Funding Information
- FG02-94ER54235
AC05-76OR00033
View MARC record | catkey: 14744504