Energy Multiplication in High Tritium Breeding Ratio Blanket with Front Breeder Zone for Fusion Reactors

Abstract

Neutrons produced by the D-T reaction have energies of 14.1 MeV. They deposit their energy while they are being slowed down, through various exothermic and endothermic reactions. Energy multiplication, defined as the ratio of released energy to the incident one in the blanket, has a sufficient probability of being increased by carefully devising the blanket construction. Increasing the energy multiplication is necessary for development of D-T fusion power plants with reduced electric power costs. We investigated a blanket having a front breeder zone, which can increase the tritium breeding ratio, from the viewpoint of enhancing the energy multiplication. Beryllium was wound to be more suitable as a neutron multiplier than lead. Installing the front breeder zone increased the energy multiplication as well as the tritium breeding ratio.