Study on the fusion reactor performance with different materials and nuclear waste actinides

Abstract

In this study, both pure fusion blanket and fusion-fission (hybrid) reactor blanket performance were investigated and discussed separately in two phases. In the first phase, a Monte Carlo radiation damage analysis has been performed for stainless steel (SS304, SS316, and oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS)), molybdenum, vanadium, and tungsten as the first wall (FW) materials, in combination with selected tritium breeders. The main technical parameters for fusion reactors, such as tritium breeding ratio, fusion energy multiplication factor (M), displacement per atom (DPA), and gas production (He, H) have been evaluated. All numerical calculations have been carried out in spherical geometry with MCNP6 code package using continuous energy cross-sections from the ENDF/B-VIII.0 library, except DPA calculations. Instead of the ENDF/B-VIII.0 library, the 30-group CLAW-IV library was employed for DPA calculations. Structural material selection for the FW respect to radiation damage limits and reactor performance for energy production and tritium has been concluded. Conventional thermal reactors, such as light water reactors andCanada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU) reactors are producing substantial quantities of transuranic elements, which represent serious nuisance and permanent hazard potential. On the other hand, they become fissionable material under high energetic fusion neutron irradiation and multiply the fusion energy. In the second phase, the investigations are extended to the incineration of minor actinides (MA) in the fusion-fission (hybrid) mode. The transmutation history of MA nuclear waste is included. MA are added into the first zone of the coolant in TRi-structural ISOtropic particle TRISO particles with a volume fraction of 6%. The transformation scenario for all MA by SS 304 steel FW is practically the same as with the ODS FW.