Fabrication and characterization of
Li-enriched Li
TiO
pebbles for a high Li-burnup irradiation test
Tsuchiya, Kunihiko
; Kawamura, Hiroshi
Lithium titanate (Li
TiO
) pebbles are considered to be a candidate material of tritium breeders for fusion reactor from viewpoints of easy tritium release at low temperatures (about 300
) and chemical stability. In the present study, trial fabrication tests of
Li-enriched Li
TiO
pebbles of 1mm in diameter were carried out by a wet process with a dehydration reaction, and characteristics of the
Li-enriched Li
TiO
pebbles were evaluated for preparation of a high Li-burnup test in a testing reactor. Powder of 96at%
Li-enriched Li
TiO
was prepared by a solid state reaction, and two kinds of
Li-enriched Li
TiO
pebbles, namely un-doped and TiO
-doped Li
TiO
pebbles, were fabricated by the wet process. Based on results of the pebble fabrication tests, two kinds of
Li-enriched Li
TiO
pebbles were successfully fabricated with target values (density : 80-85%T.D., grain size :
5
m, diameter : 0.85-1.18mm). Physical, chemical and mechanical properties of these pebbles were also evaluated before neutron irradiation tests. Sphericity of these Li
TiO
pebbles was a satisfying value of about 1.05. Contact strength of these pebbles was about 6300MPa, which was almost the same as that of the Li
TiO
pebbles with natural Li.