Investigation of lanthanides as neutron multipliers for hybrid and fusion reactor blankets

Journal Article · Thu Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Nucl. Technol./Fusion; (United States)

OSTI ID:5663507

Sahin, Sumer

The neutronic performance of three lanthanides (/sup 149/Sm, europium, and gadolinium) as neutron multiplier for the blanket of a fusion-fission (hybrid) and a pure fusion reactor has been evaluated and compared with that of beryllium and lead. During the calculations, the fission zone is made up of UO/sub 2/ rods from the LOTUS experimental hybrid facility now under construction at the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. In fusion blanket the fuel zone is replaced by pure lithium. The calculations were performed for two different boundary conditions for the left boundary: (a) reflecting, representative of a typical confinement geometry, and (b) vacuum, which represents a typical blanket experiment in plane geometry. For a vacuum left boundary, threshold reactions are reduced by a factor of about 2 while 1/v-type reactions are decreased by a factor of between 5 and 10, as a consequence of the softer spectrum produced by a reflecting left boundary. In general, the results, notably tritium breeding and energy multiplication, are comparable for the lanthanide multipliers and for beryllium and lead if the left boundary is a vacuum. The use of /sup 149/Sm is slightly less effective than europium or gadolinium and all of the lanthanides perform better for a vacuum left boundary than for the reflecting case. The analyses presented here also illustrate the importance of potential spectral shifts that can occur as the result of experimental exigencies.

• Research Organization: Laboratoire de Genie Atomique, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Ecublens CH-1015 Lausanne
• OSTI ID: 5663507
• Journal Information: Nucl. Technol./Fusion; (United States), Journal Name: Nucl. Technol./Fusion; (United States) Vol. 2:2; ISSN NTFUD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700201* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Blanket Engineering
700209 -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Component Development & Materials Testing
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BERYLLIUM
BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
BREEDING BLANKETS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELEMENTS
EUROPIUM
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL REACTORS
FUNCTIONS
GADOLINIUM
HYBRID REACTORS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEAD
LITHIUM
METALS
NEUTRONIC DAMAGE FUNCTIONS
NUCLEI
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
RARE EARTHS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
RESEARCH AND TEST REACTORS
SAMARIUM 149
SAMARIUM ISOTOPES
STABLE ISOTOPES
SUBCRITICAL ASSEMBLIES
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS