AbstractThe technological effort in supporting the development of a DEMO relevant Helium Cooled Solid Breeder Blanket (HCSBB) design, with an arrangement of the breeder inside the cladding tubes (BIT), foresees the qualification of some ceramic materials as tritium breeders. Some in-pile experiments are already carried out or are in progress, aiming at testing the materials as tritium release and selected mechanical properties. The facility allows to carry out some out-of-pile thermomechanical fatigue tests on a significant portion of one cladded ceramic pin. The breeder heat generation and the stresses are simulated by an internal electrical resistor. The radial thermal gradient is regulated by means of a proper air cooling flow with helium similitude. The internal hydraulics of the purge flow is fully reproduced, both chemically and thermally, and monitored in order to investigate the hot temperature corrosion effects on the sheath, its interaction with the ceramics and the pellet fractures.
Ceramic breeding blanket development for experimental fusion reactor in JAERI