Blanket R&D activities in Japan towards fusion power reactors

Research and development on both the solid breeder blanket and the liquid breeder blanket have been conducted in Japan towards the fusion power reactors. The solid breeder blanket, one of the most realistic systems based on the present technical data base, is under development within Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute in collaboration with the Japanese universities. On the other hand, the liquid breeder blanket has been studied mainly within the universities as a future alternative blanket system considering its merits like a simple structure and a high accommodation to radiation damage. The present paper overviews the long-term development program and the current status of R&D on the breeding blankets towards the DEMO reactor.