Neutronic investigation on the ARIES-ST fusion reactor with fissionable molten salts

• Published in: Energy conversion and management Vol. 51; no. 12; pp. 2531 - 2534
• Main Authors: Ubeyli, Mustafa, Acir, Adem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Blanketing; Carriers; Controled nuclear fusion plants; Coolants; Electric power generation; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Fission; Fused salts; Fusion; Fusion reactors; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; Molten salt; Multiplication; Reactors; Fusion; Fission; Molten salt
• ISSN: 0196-8904; 1879-2227
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2010.05.018

There have been a number of major fusion reactor design studies especially during the last 35 years. One of them is ARIES-ST fusion reactor, a 1000 MW el fusion reactor power plant [1–10]. Its design is based on the spherical tokamak concept [1–10]. Furthermore, it has an advantage of having compact power core [1–10]. In ARIES-ST fusion reactor, the coolant of LiPb is considered to be used as both energy carrier and tritium breeder [1–10]. The current study investigates the main neutronic parameters of the ARIES-ST fusion reactor utilizing the molten salts with fissile isotopes; Flibe + Weapon Grade (WG) PuF 4 or Flibe + Spent Fuel Grade (SFG) PuF 4. The neutronic calculations in the fusion blanket were carried out with the help of Scale 5 for various coolant compositions. Numerical results showed that the best neutronic performance in the reactor was attained with the coolant of Flibe + 1% WG PuF 4. In addition, a significant improvement in the energy multiplication of the reactor was obtained in comparison to the pure ARIES-ST fusion reactor.