Effect of Lithium Enrichment on the Tritium Breeding Characteristics of Various Breeders in a Fusion Driven Hybrid Reactor

Abstract

Selection of lithium containing materials is very important in the design of a deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion driven hybrid reactor in order to supply its tritium self-sufficiency. Tritium, an artificial isotope of hydrogen, can be produced in the blanket by using the neutron capture reactions of lithium in the coolants and/or blanket materials which consist of lithium. This study presents the effect of lithium-6 enrichment in the coolant of the reactor on the tritium breeding of the hybrid blanket. Various liquid-solid breeder couples were investigated to determine the effective breeders. Numerical results pointed out that the tritium production increased with increasing lithium-6 enrichment for all cases.