R&D of prediction system for tritium transport in pebble bed breeder blanket

Seki, Yohji; Hirose, Takanori; Tanigawa, Hisashi; Enoeda, Mikio

Development of test blanket module (TBM) with a water cooled solid breeder is being performed as the primary candidate of ITER-TBM of Japan. Prior to the installation of each TBM, it is necessary to develop the capability of the prediction analyses of all essential functions of the blanket to validate the analyses tools by the TBM. Especially the prediction tool of tritium concentration in the blanket system is one of the most important issues to control tritium recovery. From this view point, this paper discusses the flow phenomena and the tritium transport of the helium purge gas in the pebble bed. By prediction of purge gas flow using a numerical simulation, the result indicates tritium concentration depended on the position of the breeder layer. Namely, the large concentration still remains near the wall with approaching to an outlet.