First Wall, Blanket, and Shield

The first wall, blanket, and shield must withstand a high heat flux, remove hundreds of MW of heat, minimize impurity flow into the plasma, survive neutron and gamma radiation damage, breed tritium fuel, maintain a low tritium inventory, sustain large temperature differences, support high stress levels, avoid safety hazards, shield the coils and external environment, avoid neutron streaming through ducts, be reliable, and be maintainable. High heat flux components, such as helium-cooled tungsten armor tiles, are being developed. Reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel is the preferred structural material, and silicon carbide may be developed in the future for higher temperature operation. To achieve a satisfactory tritium breeding ratio it may be necessary to use enriched 6Li or a beryllium neutron multiplier. Monte Carlo computer codes can simulate 3D models of neutron and gamma transport, tritium breeding, shielding and radioisotope production. Several blanket configurations with cooling by helium, by PbLi liquid metal, or by molten salt, are being developed, and some of them will be tested in ITER tritium breeding modules. Rankine or Brayton cycle heat engines may be used to generate electricity with efficiency ≳40 %, and fusion energy may also be used for other applications, such as hydrogen production.

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