Numerical Study on Effects of Fuel Mixture Fraction and Li-6 Enrichment on Neutronic Parameters of a Fusion–Fission Hybrid Reactor

Research paper by Hüseyin Yapııcıı, Gamze Genç, Nesrin Demir

Indexed on: 30 Jun '05Published on: 30 Jun '05Published in: Journal of Fusion Energy

Abstract

This study presents the effects of mixture fractions of nuclear fuels (mixture of fissile–fertile fuels and mixture of two different fertile fuels) and 6Li enrichment on the neutronic parameters (the tritium breeding ratio, TBR, the fission rate, FR, the energy multiplication ratio, M, the fissile breeding rate, FBR, the neutron leakage out of blanket, L, and the peak-to-average fission power density ratio, Γ) of a deuterium–tritium (D–T) fusion neutron-driven hybrid blanket. Three different fertile fuels (232Th, 238U and 244Cm), and one fissile fuel (235U) were selected as the nuclear fuel. Two different coolants (pressurized helium and natural lithium) were used for the nuclear heat transfer out of the fuel zone (FZ). The Boltzmann transport equation was solved numerically for obtaining the neutronic parameters with the help of the neutron transport code XSDRNPM/SCALE4.4a. In addition, these calculations were performed by also using the MCNP4B code. The sub-limits of the mixture fractions and 6Li enrichment were determined for the tritium self-sufficiency. The considered hybrid reactor can be operated in a self-sufficiency mode in the cases with the fuel mixtures mixed with a fraction of equal to or greater than these sub-limits. Furthermore, the numerical results show that the fissile fuel breeding and fission potentials of the blankets with the helium coolant are higher than with the lithium coolant.