Pre-analysis of the WCLL breeding blanket mock-up neutronics experiment at the frascati neutron generator

Abstract

Abstract The Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) is one of the breeding blanket (BB) concept candidate for the future European Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO). In the frame of the EUROfusion Consortium, a WCLL BB mock-up neutronics experiment will be performed at the 14 MeV Frascati Neutron Generator (FNG) irradiation facility, devoted to the validation of the Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR) and the shielding capability predicted by neutronics design calculations. It will include the assessment of the uncertainties on the calculated Tritium Production Rate (TPR) and the neutron/gamma attenuation which will be useful to evaluate design margins required to guarantee tritium self-sufficiency. In preparation of the future experiment, a detailed pre-analysis has been performed with the MCNP Monte Carlo code for the definition of the mock-up assembly and for the optimisation of the experimental setup. The WCLL mock-up has been designed in such a way that the essential nuclear features of the WCLL BB in DEMO can be represented in the experiment and the relevant nuclear quantities can be measurable with sufficient accuracy under FNG irradiation conditions, with several experimental techniques. This study reports the results of the pre-analysis: the optimised experimental layout and its representativeness of WCLL DEMO blanket.