Helium-cooled molten-salt fusion breeder

Technical Report · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5760597· OSTI ID:5760597

Moir, R W; Lee, J D; Fulton, F J; Huegel, F; Neef, Jr, W S; Sherwood, A E; Berwald, D H; Whitley, R H; Wong, C P.C.; Devan, J H

We present a new conceptual design for a fusion reactor blanket that is intended to produce fissile material for fission power plants. Fast fission is suppressed by using beryllium instead of uranium to multiply neutrons. Thermal fission is suppressed by minimizing the fissile inventory. The molten-salt breeding medium (LiF + BeF/sub 2/ + ThF/sub 4/) is circulated through the blanket and to the on-line processing system where /sup 233/U and tritium are continuously removed. Helium cools the blanket and the austenitic steel tubes that contain the molten salt. Austenitic steel was chosen because of its ease of fabrication, adequate radiation-damage lifetime, and low corrosion by molten salt. We estimate that a breeder having 3000 MW of fusion power will produce 6500 kg of /sup 233/U per year. This amount is enough to provide makeup for 20 GWe of light-water reactors per year or twice that many high-temperature gas-cooled reactors or Canadian heavy-water reactors. Safety is enhanced because the afterheat is low and blanket materials do not react with air or water. The fusion breeder based on a pre-MARS tandem mirror is estimated to cost $4.9B or 2.35 times a light-water reactor of the same power. The estimated cost of the /sup 233/U produced is $40/g for fusion plants costing 2.35 times that of a light-water reactor if utility owned or $16/g if government owned.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA); TRW Energy Development Group, Redondo Beach, CA (USA); GA Technologies, Inc., San Diego, CA (USA); Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Bechtel Group, Inc., San Francisco, CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5760597
• Report Number(s): UCID-20153; ON: DE85012833
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700201* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Blanket Engineering
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BERYLLIUM
BREEDING
BREEDING BLANKETS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COOLANTS
CORROSION
COST
DESIGN
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FLUIDS
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
FUELS
GASES
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HEAVY NUCLEI
HELIUM
HYBRID REACTORS
ISOTOPES
MATERIALS
METALS
MOLTEN SALTS
MULTIPLICATION FACTORS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FUEL CONVERSION
NUCLEAR FUELS
NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
SALTS
THORIUM COMPOUNDS
THORIUM FLUORIDES
URANIUM 233
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES