The impact of design parameters on tritium breeding in a water cooled blanket for CFETR

The CFETR (China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor) is a major Chinese scientific project to design, build, and operate a next-generation tokamak nuclear fusion reactor. It is conceived as a critical bridge between the current International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which aims to demonstrate the scientific feasibility of fusion power, and a future commercial fusion power plant. As one of the components of the CFETR, the water cooled ceramic blanket (WCCB) mainly carries out many important tasks, such as tritium breeding, radiation shielding, and fusion energy conversion and output. The high tritium breeding ability is one of the most significant goals of blanket design. Based on the latest 1/16 (22.5°) three-dimensional neutronics model and typical equatorial blanket module, a series of influencing factors of tritium breeding are systematically analyzed to provide a reference for the design and optimization of the blanket. The influence of CFETR design parameters on the net tritium breeding ratio (TBR) is analyzed and studied. The influence factors of the blanket design mainly include the factor of the pebble bed, the ratio of the breeding material, the thickness of the tungsten armor, the thickness of the first wall, the proportion of steel and water for the first wall, the diameter of the cooling pipe, and so on. The variation trend and law of the net TBR with different blanket design parameters are obtained. The current research has important guiding significance for the future design and optimization of the WCCB for the CFETR.