Tritium breeding in a fusion--fission hybrid breeder reactor

Technical Report · Tue May 23 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6531756· OSTI ID:6531756

McCowan, J. R.

In order to construct a D-T fusion-fission hybrid breeder reactor there must be some guarantee that tritium will be available to fuel the fusion reaction. This can be achieved by breeding tritium in the blanket of the reactor. A variety of blanket configurations have been studied with the intent of arriving at a blanket design capable of attaining sizeable values of power and fissile fuel production, and simultaneously assure self-sufficiency in tritium production for the reactor, i.e., a T-breeding ratio greater than 1.0. Using a four group diffusion theory code, a number of possible blanket configurations were studied during the parametric phase of hybrid breeder blanket design. They included tritium breeding zones of natural or enriched lithium metal and natural lithium in dilithium oxide, neutron multiplier zones of uranium and thorium with varying amounts of plutonium, thorium fissile breeding zones (sometimes containing plutonium), and graphite reflector zones. The choice of clad used in the fuel rods has also been found to influence tritium breeding. One of the more promising designs studied combines a tritium breeding ratio of 1.2 with a blanket fissile power of 16 GW(th), and a U-233 production rate of 2.7 tonnes per year.

• Research Organization: Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (USA). Fusion Power Systems Dept.; Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6531756
• Report Number(s): WFPS-TME-090
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700205* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Fuel
Heating
& Injection Systems
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALKALI METALS
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BREEDING
BREEDING BLANKETS
BREEDING RATIO
CARBON
CHALCOGENIDES
CONVERSION RATIO
DEUTERIUM
ELEMENTS
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
GRAPHITE
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYBRID REACTORS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
LITHIUM
LITHIUM COMPOUNDS
LITHIUM OXIDES
METALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FUEL CONVERSION
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PRODUCTION
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
STABLE ISOTOPES
TRITIUM
URANIUM 233
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES