Neutronics and shielding results of the US International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor blanket trade-off study

Detailed neutronics and shielding analyses have been performed for the different International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) blanket design options considered in the ITER blanket option trade-off study. The options considered included a self-cooled Li/V option, a helium-cooled Li/V option, ferritic steel designs with helium-cooled first wall and liquid metal (Li or LiPb) cooled blanket, the conceptual design activity (CDA) design option, and a water-cooled 316 stainless steel (SS) non-breeding shield option. Among the tritium breeding blanket design options, the self-cooled Li/V option has the highest breeding potential while the CDA blanket design option has the best shielding performance. Additional shielding improvement is achieved by using a non-breeding SS/H2O shield.