Solid lithium-lead blanket for fusion reactor
Disclosed is a solid lithium-lead blanket for a fusion reactor, where a solid lithium-lead alloy is adopted as a neutron multiplier and a tritium breeder, and is placed in a form of a unitary or binary pebble bed inside a structural skeleton composed of structural materials; and nuclear thermal deposition in the solid lithium-lead alloy generated due to an interaction between the solid lithium-lead alloy and a fusion neutron is moved out by a coolant. A proportion of lead atoms in the solid lithium-lead alloy is low, so that, under normal operations and accident conditions of the blanket, the solid lithium-lead alloy always remains in a solid state without melting, and tritium can be brought out of the reactor by purge gas flowing through the pebble bed to allow tritium self-sufficiency. The blanket of the present disclosure does not require beryllium to meet the requirements of tritium breeding.
1 . A solid lithium-lead blanket for a fusion reactor, comprising: a solid lithium-lead alloy having a melting point of at least 650° C., a coolant, and a structural skeleton comprising a plurality of spaced structures made of a structural material,
wherein the solid lithium-lead alloy is filled in gaps between adjacent ones of the plurality of spaced structures, and serves as a neutron multiplier and a tritium breeder; under normal operations and accident conditions of the blanket, the solid lithium-lead alloy always remains in a solid state without melting;
the solid lithium-lead alloy exists in a form of pebble bed; and the pebble bed is a binary pebble bed containing pebbles with two different sizes, or a unitary pebble bed containing pebbles with a uniform size; and
the structural skeleton comprises a coolant channel disposed therein, and a gas access port; the coolant channel is configured to allow the coolant to flow therein for removal of nuclear thermal deposition; and the gas access port is configured to allow purge gas to flow through the pebble bed for extraction of tritium.
2 . The solid lithium-lead blanket for a fusion reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the coolant is selected from water, helium, or supercritical carbon dioxide.
3 . The solid lithium-lead blanket for a fusion reactor according to claim 1 , wherein the structural material is selected from Reduced Activation Ferritic (RAM) steel or Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) ferritic steel.
4 . The solid lithium-lead blanket for a fusion reactor according to claim 1 , further comprising a tungsten armor covering the structural material in a front zone of the blanket to avoid plasma sputtering and corrosion.