A European proposal for an ITER water-cooled solid breeder blanket

The water-cooled solid breeder blanket concept proposed here aims to replace the shielding blanket for the enhanced performance phase of the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER). The nominal performances are as follows: an average neutron wall load of 1 MW m−2 which corresponds to a fusion power of about 1.5 GW, and an average neutron fluence of 1 MWy m−2. The proposed blanket concept has been designed to accept a power increase of about 30% and power transients up to 3–5 GW for a short time. This blanket concept is based on a breeder inside tube (BIT)-type blanket with poloidal breeding elements made of 316 L-type stainless steel and filled with lithium metazirconate and beryllium pebbles. Inlet and outlet water temperatures of 160 and 200°C have been considered with a medium-pressure cooling system during plasma burn. The diameters of the breeding elements are compatible with the space available in test fission reactor core channels, making in-pile testing, required for blanket development and qualification, easier. A conservative approach using qualified materials, a blanket concept easily testable in fission reactors and on-going mock-up testing, which can be qualified using blanket test modules during the basic performance phase of ITER, will allow the blanket reliability required for the enhanced performance phase to be achieved.