Activation evaluation of fusion solid breeder materials

Conference · Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/FUSION.1989.102407· OSTI ID:5240407

Cheng, E. T.; Schultz, K. R.; Wong, C. P.C.

Solid lithium ceramic compounds are considered prime candidate breeder materials for D-T based fusion reactors because of potential advantages in safety, lack of electromagnetic effects, and relative ease of tritium extraction. Li{sub 2}O, Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4}, LiAlO{sub 2}, and Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} are among the most plausible candidate solid breeder materials. Studies were performed of these materials to compare their activation characteristics after neutron exposure in a fusion reactor, including quantities relevant to safety and waste disposal. Induced radioactivity, decay heat, biological dose rate, and waste disposal rating of these materials were considered. Impurity elements that appear in lithium such as Na, K and Ca, were also included in the analysis. The results show that Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} gives the highest values in every aspect of activation concerns except waste disposal, where LiAlO{sub 2} dominates. LiAlO{sub 2} and Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} will qualify for 10CFR61 low level waste disposal only when these materials are located in the lower neutron fluence region in the blanket. Li{sub 2}O and Li{sub 4}SiO{sub 4} show much lower (at least 3 orders of magnitude) induced activity than Li{sub 2}ZrO{sub 3} and LiAlO{sub 2} and satisfy all aspects of low activation considerations. 7 refs., 7 tabs.

• Research Organization: General Atomics, San Diego, CA (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-89ER52153
• OSTI ID: 5240407
• Report Number(s): GA-A-19763; CONF-891007-115; ON: DE90004105; TRN: 90-001593
• Resource Relation: Conference: 13. IEEE symposium on fusion engineering, Knoxville, TN (USA), 2-6 Oct 1989
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR MATERIALS
EVALUATION
BREEDING BLANKETS
DOSE RATES
IMPURITIES
LITHIUM OXIDES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIOACTIVATION
SAFETY
WASTE DISPOSAL
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
700201* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Blanket Engineering
700209 - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Component Development & Materials Testing