A research and development review of water-cooled breeding blanket for fusion reactors

摘要

Fusion energy technology is one of the most promising effective approaches to solve the sustainable development problem of energy resource. This paper launched a research and development (R&D) review of water-cooled breeding blanket for fusion reactors, which were mainly carried out by the European Union, China, Japan and Republic of Korea. A brief summary of typical water-cooled breeding blankets is provided, including the design institutes, typical parameters, advantages and disadvantages. Currently, based on the experiences of pressurized water reactor (PWR), boiling water reactor (BWR) and coal-fired super-critical power plant, the water-cooled breeding blanket is developed in all aspects. The main development trend of water-cooled breeding blanket for fusion reactors is an integration of wide power range adaptability, high thermo-electric conversion efficiency and high safety. For the further R&D works of water-cooled breeding blanket, potential issues may include the heat transfer enhancement and coolant flow distribution optimization of the first walls (FWs), the optimization of breeder zone (BZ) size, the optimization of shape and configuration of cooling channels in BZs, optimization of stress fields of water-cooled breeding blankets, etc. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.