STEP encapsulated Breeding Blanket

UK

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Agency’s (UKAEA) Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) is an innovative plan for a commercially viable fusion power plant. A conceptual design of the reactor is expected to be completed by 2024.

Within this ambitious programme, one of the key components to be developed is the Breeding Blanket (BB), which provides shielding from the neutrons of plasma fusion, extracts heat for power generation and breeds tritium (T) to achieve the self-sufficiency principle.

IDOM has developed a pre-conceptual design of a possible BB for STEP for the UKAEA, focusing on the aforementioned blanket functions and in particular on manufacturability using available techniques and existing materials, seeking a balance between high performance and reduced cost.

The proposed concept is based on the encapsulation of the breeding material in hollow spheres forming a gas-cooled packed bed. The cooling gas is extracted from the pebbles and removed from the blanket the tritium produced in the breeding material. A front multiplier and back reflector were also investigated to maximize tritium production.

The resulting concept has been filed for patent.

Fusion