Tritium transport modelling in Europe: Current status, multi-physics integration and proposal of material property data

Abstract

The capability to predict tritium retention and permeation by accurate and reliable tritium transport models for the breeding blanket design development is one of the most relevant objectives of the European Test Blanket Module (TBM) Programme. This also represents a key aspect for the development and licensing of next-future fusion systems and power plants, including the European DEMO. Tritium analyses can be performed using either system-level models to calculate global blanket and the related ancillary system performances or detailed 3D models for spatially limited areas and critical regions: the choice between these two modelling approaches depend on the objective of each analyse. When looking at the accuracy of tritium transport simulations, two main aspects have to be considered: the first one is the completeness of the description of the physical phenomena participating to the tritium transport dynamics; the second one is the reliability of the tritium transport material property values used in the simulation activities.In this context, this paper has the objective to carry out a critical analysis on the status of the integration of the most relevant multi-physics elements, providing recommendations on the approach to follow, with a particular focus on the system-level codes. Moreover, a set of data and correlations on tritium transport materials properties is proposed as a first step towards a material property database to be shared within the breeding blanket community.