Preliminary design of Indian Test Blanket Module for ITER

Indian Test Blanket Module (TBM) program in ITER is one of the major steps in its fusion reactor program towards DEMO and future Fusion Power Reactor (FPR) vision. Along with the DEMO machine design, liquid type and solid type breeding blankets are being developed for testing in ITER. India has proposed Lead–Lithium cooled Ceramic Breeder (LLCB) as the blanket concept for its DEMO reactor. The LLCB blanket concept consists of lithium titanate as ceramic breeder (CB) material in the form of packed pebble beds and Pb–Li eutectic as multiplier, breeder, and coolant for the CB zones. The outer box is cooled by helium. An alternative blanket concept also being considered for the development is the Helium-Cooled Solid Breeder (HCSB) concept with ferritic steel structure and Be neutron multiplier. Presently the primary focus is on the design and analysis of the LLCB TBM to assess the performance of LLCB concept for DEMO relevance. The LLCB TBM will be tested from day 1 operation of ITER in one-half of a designated test port. The tests in ITER include the simultaneous function of all subsystems including the TBM as well as its ancillary system. The tritium produced in Pb–Li and ceramic breeder zones will be extracted by separate external ancillary systems. The R&D activities are being initiated in all critical areas related to DEMO relevant blanket concepts in order to test the TBM in ITER. In this paper, the design description, preliminary analysis, some of the related ancillary systems and R&D activities for LLCB TBM are presented.