AbstractCeramic breeding blankets are the main options for DEMO reactor designs in JAERI, and large efforts have been made in the area of related materials development, engineering-scaled R&D, as well as design development. A long-term R&D program was launched in 1996 to provide an engineering database and fabrication technologies for the DEMO blanket and its performances by means of in-pile and out-of-pile mock-up tests, aiming at module tests in ITER as a near-term target. A variety of fundamental researches have also been carried out, mainly in universities, to support the above project-oriented R&D, laying emphasis on tritium-release characteristics from the ceramic breeding materials. The present paper overviews the current status of the ceramic breeding DEMO blanket design and related R&D in Japan, and outlines the long-term development program.
Design and technology development of solid breeder blanket cooled by supercritical water in Japan