Preliminary assessment for dust contamination of ITER in-vessel transporter

Saito, Makiko; Ueno, Kenichi; Maruyama, Takahito; Murakami, Shin; Takeda, Nobukazu; Kakudate, Satoshi; Nakahira, Masataka*; Tesini, A.*

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(9-10), p.2352 - 2356, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.023

After plasma operation of the ITER reactor, irradiated radioactive dust will accumulate in the vacuum vessel (VV). The In Vessel Transporter (IVT) will be installed in the VV and remove the blanket modules for maintenance. The IVT will be carried back to the Hot Cell Facilities (HCF) after exchanging the blanket, and the IVT itself also needs maintenance. It is considered that the maintenance workers will be exposed to the irradiated radioactive dust attached to the IVT surface. In this study, dust contamination of the IVT is evaluated to assess exposure during maintenance work in the HCF. The IVT contamination scenario is assumed in the ITER project. From plasma shut down until maintenance is performed on the IVT will take 345 days under the ITER project assumption. Under this scenario, the effective dose rate from irradiated radioactive dust was calculated as an infinite plate for each nuclide. As a result, W-181 and Ta-182 were the dominant nuclides for the effective dose rate. If all dust is W-181 or Ta-182, the effective dose rate is about 400 Sv/h and 100 Sv/h respectively. Nevertheless, using the dose limit determined by the ITER project and the estimated maximum maintenance time, the effective dose rate limit was calculated to be 4.18 Sv/h under these limited conditions. To satisfy the dose rate limit, decontamination processes were assumed and the dose rate after decontamination was evaluated.

Physical properties of F82H for fusion blanket design

Hirose, Takanori; Nozawa, Takashi; Stoller, R. E.*; Hamaguchi, Dai; Sakasegawa, Hideo; Tanigawa, Hisashi; Tanigawa, Hiroyasu; Enoeda, Mikio; Kato, Yutai*; Snead, L. L.*

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1595 - 1599, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2013.12.005

The material properties, focusing on the properties used for design analysis were re-assessed and newly investigated for various heats including F82H-IEA. Moreover, irradiation effects on those properties were studied in this work. As for thermal properties, thermal conductivity that has significant impacts on the thermo-hydraulic properties of the blanket was investigated on several heats of F82H including F82H-IEA. According to the measurements, the thermal conductivity falls in the range 28.31.1 W/m/K at 293 K. Although this is comparable with that of the other ferritic/martensitic steels, it is 20% lower than the published value for F82H-IEA. The re-assessment on the published value revealed that the thermal diffusivity was over-estimated. As for irradiation effects on the physical properties, electric resistivity was measured after irradiation up to 6 dpa at 573 K and 673 K. The reduction of resistivity in F82H and its welds were 3% and 6%, respectively.

Infrared thermography inspection for monoblock divertor target in JT-60SA

Nakamura, Shigetoshi; Sakurai, Shinji; Ozaki, Hidetsugu; Seki, Yohji; Yokoyama, Kenji; Sakasai, Akira; Tsuru, Daigo

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1024 - 1028, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.067

Carbon Fiber Composite mono-block divertor target is required for power handling in JT-60SA. Heat removal capability of the target is degraded by joint defect which is induced in manufacturing process. For screening heat removal capability, infrared thermography inspection (IR inspection) is improved an accuracy for the target using threaded cooling tube. In IR inspection, the targets heated at 95C by hot water in steady state condition are instantaneously cooled down by cold water flow of 5C in three channels of test section. The heat removal capability of the targets is evaluated with comparing the transient thermal response time between defect-free and tested targets. A construction of a database for a correlation between the known defects, maximum surface temperatures in the heat load test and the IR inspection are successfully completed. Screening criteria is set with finite element methods based on the database.

Penetration of tritiated water vapor through hydrophobic paints for concrete materials

Edao, Yuki; Kawamura, Yoshinori; Yamanishi, Toshihiko; Fukada, Satoshi*

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(9-10), p.2062 - 2065, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.059

Tritium transfer behavior through hydrophobic paints, epoxy resin and acrylic-silicon resin, was investigated experimentally. The authors measured the amount of tritium permeated through the paint membranes which exposed in HTO atmosphere of 2100 Bq/cm. The most of tritium permeated through the paints in the form of HTO at room temperature. Tritium permeation through the acrylic-silicon paint was explained a linear sorption/release model and that through the epoxy paint was suggested to be controlled by a one-dimensional diffusion model. While effective diffusivity was 1.0101.810 m/s at 21C26C for epoxy membrane, the diffusivity was found to be hundreds times larger than that for cement-paste coated with epoxy paint. Hence, tritium diffusivity through interface between cement-paste and the epoxy paint was considered to be most effective in the overall tritium transfer process. Tritium transfer behavior in the interface is important to explain the mechanism of tritium transfer behavior in concrete walls.

The Start-up and observation of the Li target in the EVEDA Li test loop

Kondo, Hiroo; Kanemura, Takuji; Furukawa, Tomohiro; Hirakawa, Yasushi; Groeschel, F.*; Wakai, Eiichi

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1688 - 1693, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.022

EVEDA (Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activity) Li Test Loop, which simulates the hydraulic condition of the Li target and the purification system of the IFMIF Li facility, is under operation in a frame work of the IFMIF/EVEDA. The Li target at a velocity of 20 m/s in a pressurized condition and a vacuum condition were observed by image devices in this study.

Trial examination of direct pebble fabrication for advanced tritium breeders by the emulsion method

Hoshino, Tsuyoshi

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1431 - 1435, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2013.12.052

Demonstration power reactors (DEMOs) require advanced tritium breeders with high thermal stability. For the mass production of advanced tritium breeder pebbles, pebble fabrication by the emulsion method is a promising technique. To develop the most efficient pebble fabrication method, a new direct pebble fabrication process utilizing the emulsion method was implemented. A prior pebble fabrication process consisted of the preparation of raw materials followed by granulation. The new process integrates the preparation and granulation of raw materials. The slurry for the emulsion granulation of LiTiO as a tritium breeder consists of mixtures of LiCO and TiO at specific ratios. The average diameter of the obtained sintered LiTiO pebbles were 1.0 mm. The trial fabrication results suggest that the new process has the potential to increase the fabrication efficiency of advanced tritium breeder pebbles.

Fabrication of beryllide pebble as advanced neutron multiplier

Nakamichi, Masaru; Kim, Jae-Hwan

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1304 - 1308, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.081

Research and development status on fusion DEMO reactor design under the Broader Approach

Tobita, Kenji; Federici, G.*; Okano, Kunihiko

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(9-10), p.1870 - 1874, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.077

The goal of the DEMO reactor design under the Broader Approach (BA) is to develop possible pre-conceptual designs of DEMO by addressing key design issues and options in physics, technology and system engineering for DEMO. The joint work between EU and Japan for the DEMO design started with a benchmark of systems codes. Cross-checking between the EU systems code PROCESS and the JA systems code TPC showed a good agreement for relatively conservative plasma parameters. In parallel, critical design issues on DEMO have been studied. In order to resolve the problem on divertor heat removal, a reduction of divertor heat load due to plasma detachment and advanced divertor concepts such as super-X and snowflake configuration has been investigated. Regarding remote maintenance (RM), various RM concepts based on different sector segmentations and access ports has been studied to allow reasonable plant availability under severe in-vessel dose rate.

Stress envelope of silicon carbide composites at elevated temperatures

Nozawa, Takashi; Kim, S.*; Ozawa, Kazumi; Tanigawa, Hiroyasu

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1723 - 1727, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2013.12.032

A SiC/SiC composite is a promising candidate material for the advanced fusion DEMO blanket. For the design of the DEMO, the stability of high-temperature strength of SiC/SiC composites needs to be identified. Additionally, strength anisotropy needs to be clarified because of its unique fabric architecture. This study therefore aims to evaluate mechanical properties by various modes at elevated temperatures, eventually providing a stress envelope for the design. A P/W Tyranno-SA3 fiber reinforced CVI SiC matrix composite with multilayered SiC/PyC interface was evaluated in this study. Tensile and compressive tests were conducted by the SSTT specifically arranged for the high-temperature use. In-plane shear properties were contrarily estimated by the off-axial tensile method assuming that the mixed mode failure criterion is valid for composites. All tests were performed in vacuum. The preliminary test results indicate no degradation of both proportional limit stress (PLS) and the ultimate tensile strength at temperatures below 1000C. Similarly, no significant degradation of high-temperature compressive and in-plane shear properties were identified, finally providing the stress envelope at elevated temperatures for the design.

DT neutron irradiation experiment for evaluation of tritium recovery from WCCB blanket

Ochiai, Kentaro; Kawamura, Yoshinori; Hoshino, Tsuyoshi; Edao, Yuki; Takakura, Kosuke; Ota, Masayuki; Sato, Satoshi; Konno, Chikara

Fusion Engineering and Design, 89(7-8), p.1464 - 1468, 2014/10

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.04.079

We have performed the tritium recovery experiment on fusion reactor blanket with DT neutrons at the Fusion Neutronics Source facility in Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The candidate breeding material, LiTiO pebble, was put into the container which was set up it into an assembly simulating water cooled ceramic breeding (WCCB) blanket. Helium sweep gas including H (1%) and/or HO (1%) was flowed and extracted tritium was collected to water bubblers during DT neutron irradiation. The LiTiO pebble was also heated up to a constant temperature at 573, 873 and 1073 K, respectively. We arranged the tritium recovery system to measure tritiated water moisture and tritium gas, separately, and to investigate the amount of recovered tritium and the chemical form. From our experiments, it was showed that the amount of recovered tritium was corresponded to the calculation value and the ratio of chemical form depended to the temperature and kinds of sweep gas.