Overview of the TITAN-I fusion-power core

Abstract

The TITAN reactor is a compact (major radius of 3.9 m and plasma minor radius of 0.6 m), high neutron wall loading (~18 MW/m 2 ) fusion energy system based on the reversed-field pinch (RFP) confinement concept. The reactor thermal power is 2918 MWt resulting in net electric output of 960 MWe and a mass power density of 700 kWe/tonne. The TITAN-I fusion power core (FPC) is a lithium, self-cooled design with vanadium alloy (V-3Ti-1Si) structural material. The surface heat flux incident on the first wall is ~4.5 MW/m 2 . The magnetic field topology of the RFP is favorable for liquid metal cooling. In the TITAN-I design, the first wall and blanket consist of single pass, poloidal flow loops aligned with the dominant poloidal magnetic field. A unique feature of the TITAN-I design is the use of the integrated-blanket-coil (IBC) concept. With the IBC concept the poloidal flow lithium circuit is also the electrical conductor of the toroidal-field and divertor coils. Three dimensional neutronics analysis yields a tritium breeding ratio of 1.18 and a molten salt extraction technique is employed for the tritium extraction system. Almost every FPC component would qualify for Class C waste disposal. The compactness of the design allows the use of single-piece maintenance of the FPC. This maintenance procedure is expected to increase the plant availability. The entire FPC operates inside a vacuum tank, which is surrounded by an atmosphere of inert argon gas to impede the flow of air in the system in case of an accident. The top-side coolant supply and return virtually eliminate the possibility of a complete LOCA occurring in the FPC. The peak temperature during a LOFA is 991 °C.