Transmutation-incineration potential of transuraniums discharged from PWR-UO2 spent fuel in modified PROMETHEUS fusion reactor

This study presents the potential of the burning and/or transmutation (B/T) of transuraniums (TRUs), discharged from the pressured water reactor PWR-UO₂ spent fuel, in the modified PROMETHEUS-H fusion reactor. Two different design shapes (Models A and B) were considered. The transmutation zone (TZ), which contains the mixture of TRU nuclides (10%), was located in the modified blankets. The volume fraction of Pu in the mixture is raised from 0 to 40% stepped by 10% to determine its effect on the B/T. The fuel spheres were cladded with SiC (5%) and cooled with high-pressured helium gas (85%) for nuclear heat transfer. The calculations were performed for an operation period (OP) of up to 10 years by 75% plant factor (η) under a neutron wall load (P) of 4.7 MW/m². The results bring out that: (1) the Model B transmutes the TRUs more rapidly than the Model A; (2) the effective half-lives decrease about 20 and 40% with the increase of Pu fraction in the cases of Models A and B, respectively; (3) the M values are quite high with respect to the M value of the original PROMETHEUS fusion reactor; (4) the blankets can produce substantial electricity in situ.     

A Chinese View on Summary of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science

Investigation on tritium was one of the recommendations in Energy Research Advisory Board (ERAB) report of U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) in November, 1989. Fifteen years evolution of the related research proved that it was an important recommendation. A selective resonant tunneling model is attempted to explain this discovery. Deuterium flux might be a key issue to solve the problem of the reproducibility. A further investigation is suggested based on this model.     

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

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.     

Effect of Thickness Error of Accelerator Tritium Film-on Inversion of BIXS Method

BIXS (β-ray induced X-ray spectrometry) is a nondestructive method to analyze tritium, which can be affected by many factors in inversion process. The difference between tritium film’s thickness and inversion basic function spectrum’s thickness can’t be overlooked. By the Monte Carlo method code PENELOPE and experiment, it is found that the thickness error of accelerator tritium film has an effect for inversion of BIXS method. The thickness error makes a great impact on tritium increasing distribution, and a less impact on tritium descending distribution. The bigger the slope of tritium depth distribution in titanium film, the greater the influence of thickness error of tritium film on BIXS inversion.     

中国氦冷固态增殖剂实验包层模块材料研究进展

在未来核聚变反应堆中,为补充氚的消耗,需要在核聚变堆的包层中进行氚的在线增殖,以维持核聚变反应的持续进行。为验证这一关键技术,在国际热核聚变实验堆（ITER）上开展了ITER TBM计划（实验包层项目）。作为ITER计划成员方之一,中方以中国氦冷固态增殖剂实验包层模块（HCCB TBM）概念参与ITER TBM计划。HCCB TBM现今进入初步设计阶段,而材料的制备技术和性能数据是支撑其结构设计、安全分析和服役工况评估的基础。本文综述和分析了HCCB TBM结构材料低活化铁素体/马氏体钢（RAFM钢）与功能材料氚增殖剂和中子倍增剂的研究现状,并对这些材料下一步的研究方向进行了展望。     

以小鼠精原细胞数的变化检测氚辐射的相对生物效应

小鼠腹腔注射氚水后10天内睾丸累积剂量为0.19～1.01Gy时,小鼠精原细胞数减少了14～33％;~(60)Coγ线的累积剂量为0.74～2.87Gy时,小鼠精原细胞数减少了13—24％;初步结果表明:在这两种情况下,辐照剂量把对生物效应之间呈直线关系,并确定了氚RBE值为3.31。     

On the Tritium Breeding Capability of Flibe, Flinabe, and Li20Sn80 in a Fusion-Fission (Hybrid) Reactor

In a commercial (DT) driven fusion reactor, the tritium breeding ratio per incident fusion neutron must be greater than 1.05 to maintain tritium self-sufficiency for the driver. In this study tritium breeding capability of three different coolants, namely Flibe (LiF·BeF₂), Flinabe (LiF·NaF·BeF₂), and Li₂₀Sn₈₀ in a (DT) driven fusion-fission (hybrid) reactor was investigated for different refractory alloys (W-5Re, TZM, T111, and Nb-1Zr) as structural material. Neutron transport calculations were conducted with the help of SCALE 4.3 SYSTEM by solving the Boltzmann transport equation with code XSDRNPM. The contribution of Flibe, Flinabe, and Li₂₀Sn₈₀ with respect to ⁶Li enrichment in their lithium content to overall TBR was investigated. In addition, the effect of structural material type on TBR was examined.     

Studies on the Characteristic of Titanium–Tritium Reaction

The p–c–T curves of tritium absorption and desorption of titanium were measured using the method of step equilibrium by stepping up the tritium quantity on an experimental apparatus of metal hydride. The p–c–T curves for tritium have one plateau at temperature below 300°C and two plateaus at temperature above 300°C. The thermodynamic parameters of the different phases were determined according to the van’t Hoff equation. The hysteresis effect was not observed in reversible process of tritium absorption and desorption of titanium on our experimental condition. The tritium absorption behavior of titanium in the temperature ranging from 550°C to 750°C and desorption behavior of titanium in the temperature ranging from 350°C to 550°C have been investigated in a constant volume system. A method of the reaction rate analysis was proposed and examined for determining the rate constant. The apparent activation energy obtained by this analysis for the absorption and the desorption were 155.5 ± 3.2 kJ mol⁻¹ and 62.1 ± 1.6 kJ mol⁻¹ respectively.     

聚变堆氦冷固态包层结构和6Li富集度对产氚率的影响

在聚变堆固态包层基本参数基础上，建立简化20°模型，包层分第1壁装甲、第1壁冷却板、氚增殖区和支撑结构。分别选择Li₄SiO₄和Li₂O做增殖材料，应用MCNP程序，研究第1壁结构布置和6Li富集度对产氚率的影响。结果表明：₆Li富集度适宜选择在30％~80％之间；第1壁选择Be装甲可提高产氚率；冷却管板的厚度应取3cm以下，以避免对产氚造成不利的影响。     

三种疏水催化剂耐氚辐照稳定性初步研究

为考察3种疏水催化剂Pt-SDB(SDB为苯乙烯-二乙烯苯共聚物)，Pt-PTFE（PTFE为聚四氟乙烯），Pt-C-PTFE 的耐氚辐照稳定性，将其置于1.26×10¹²Bq/L的氚水中静态辐照210 d后，对其催化交换性能及催化剂中残存氚进行分析。结果表明，3种催化剂在氚的β辐照下未发生裂解，催化剂中氚的残存量随催化剂比表面积的增加而增加，基本没有发生结构上的氚取代反应；但在氚水辐照后，3种疏水催化剂的交换性能出现了不同程度的变化，按单位质量Pt粒子计算，在测试不确定度范围内Pt-PTFE和Pt-C-PTFE的转化率没有发生明显变化，Pt-SDB(1)的转化率下降了11.2％，Pt-SDB(2)的转化率下降了16.9％。