Calculations for Isotopically Tailored Ceramics in Fission and Fusion Reactors

Abstract

Information and understanding of the response of a ceramic at dpa and gas production rates near those expected at the first wall of a fusion reactor can be obtained by an experiment in a fission reactor to irradiate an isotopically tailored sample of the ceramic. To aid in the design of such an experiment, we have made calculations to determine the amount of /sup 15/N and /sup 17/O needed in Si/sub 3/Al/sub 3/O/sub 3/N/sub 5/ and /sup 17/O needed in Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ to simulate the behavior of these ceramics in the first wall of the STARFIRE fusion reactor by exposure in the HFIR reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The calculations were performed using a code developed at Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory, and the gas production and damage nuclear data needed were produced with a Los Alamos code. Although the damage data are more appropriate for metals, it is assumed that the comparison of the gas-to-damage ratios in the two reactors is valid. Calculations indicate that 57% /sup 17/O and 90.6% /sup 15/N in sialon and 17.9% /sup 17/O in alumina would be adequate for the simulation.