INSIGHTS INTO PROSPECTIVE FUSION REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS FROM FISSION REACTOR COOLING CIRCUITS

摘要

The next generations of nuclear fusion reactors,including ITER and DEMO, will consider severaldifferent cooling systems for heat dissipation, powergeneration and tritium breeding. This includes the watercooledlithium-lead blanket (WCLL) design, which bearssignificant similarities to the water-cooled circuit in apressurised water fission reactor. Preparatory work hasbegun to analyse how the water chemistry regimes used inlight water reactors (LWRs) might be adapted to a fusioncooling system. Mitigation procedures from LWRs such ashydrogen water chemistry, zinc and noble metal additionmay prove useful in controlling the rate of corrosion in aWCLL circuit, a system which is also subject toaggressive radiolysis products of water and high flowvelocities. In addition, a fusion cooling system must copewith several unique challenges, including higher neutronenergies and fluxes, thermal excursions from plasmainstability and strong magnetic fields up to 10T.