Safety Assessment of the ARIES Compact Stellarator Design

Abstract ARIES-CS is a 1000 MW(electric) compact stellarator conceptual fusion power plant design. This power plant design contains many innovative features to improve the physics, engineering, and safety performance of the stellarator concept. ARIES-CS utilizes a dual-cooled lead lithium blanket that employs low-activation ferritic steel as a structural material, with the first wall cooled by helium and the breeding zone self-cooled by flowing lead lithium. In this paper we examine the safety and environmental performance of ARIES-CS by reporting radiological inventories, decay heat, and radioactive waste management options and by examining the response of ARIES-CS to accident conditions. These accidents include conventional loss of coolant and loss of flow events, an ex-vessel loss of coolant event, and an in-vessel loss of coolant with bypass event that mobilizes in-vessel radioactive inventories (e.g., tritium and erosion dust from plasma-facing components). Our analyses demonstrate that the decay heat can be safely removed from ARIES-CS and the facility can meet the no-evacuation requirement.

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