M. Ferrari1, W. DŠnner2, L.V. Boccaccini3, G. Celentano1, A. Cheyne6, L. De Stefanis7, M. Eid4, J.M. Gay5, G. Mazzone1, J. Mustoe6, L. Petrizzi1, T. Pinna1, A. Pizzuto1, Y. Poitevin4, M. Roccella1, F. Scaffidi-Argentina3, F. Sherwood6, F. Zacchia8
1ENEA, ERG-FUS, Via Enrico Fermi 27, I-00044 Frascati, Italy
2The NET Team, Boltzmannstra§e 2, D-85748 Garching, Germany
3FZK, INR, P.O. Box 3640, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
4CEA, DMT/SERMA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette CŽdex, France
5Technicatome, DI/SEPS, BP34000-13791, CŽdex 3, Aix-en-Provence, France
6EFET, NNC, Booths Halls, Chelford Road, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 8QZ, England
7EFET, CITIF, FIAT Avio, Corso Ferrucci 112, I-10138 Torino, Italy
8EFET, CITIF, Ansaldo Ricerche, Corso Perrone 25, I-16161 Genova, Italy
In the frame of the ITER Engineering Design Activity (EDA), the European Home Team (EU HT) in collaboration with the Joint Central Team (JCT) and the three other HTs performed design activities in developing a water-cooled solid breeder blanket design concept for the ITER Enhanced Performance Phase. In early 1997 the EU HT has gradually come to a basic layout of his own, characterized in particular by an enhancement of the overall reactor relevance level, and then started the relative design activities.
The main peculiarities of the EU HT proposal are the following: i) the use of beryllium in form of a pebble bed, ii) the adoption of flat radial-poloidal cooling panels, iii) the confinement of the breeder pebbles in circular rods.
The design is intended to achieve: i) operational experience complementing the information obtained from Ceramic Breeder Blanket ITER Test Modules, ii) observance of the ITER requirements in terms of functionality, performance and manufacturing; in particular this is essential to match the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) target by means of an industrially assessed design, iii) optimum way to meet the ITER boundary conditions with respect to space and accommodation of the attachment system, iv) a high level of confidence in the operational predictability and a sufficiently large level of reliability. Furthermore, the basic layout is compatible with any present candidate ceramic breeder materials (lithium zirconate, lithium titanate, lithium silicate and lithium oxide). A positive consequence is also to drastically minimize the beryllium related ITER R&D effort since all solid breeding blanket concepts for DEMO are foreseeing the use of beryllium in form of pebbles and the related R&D activities are already in progress.
In addition to the design rationale, the paper describes the results of the April-July 1997 design activity in the areas of neutronic, thermal, thermal-hydraulic, electromagnetic, structural, thermo-mechanical as well as tritium and safety analyses. A specific section is devoted to the results of an industrial assessment of the blanket module manufacturing and assembly.