Status of Pb-16Li technologies for European DEMO fusion reactor

Design of the Test Section for the Experimental Validation of Antipermeation and Corrosion Barriers for WCLL BB

Tritium permeation into the Primary Heat Transfer System (PHTS) of DEMO and ITER reactors is one of the challenging issues to be solved in order to demonstrate the feasibility of nuclear fusion power plants construction. Several technologies were investigated as antipermeation and corrosion barriers to reduce the tritium permeation flux from the breeder into the PHTS. Within this frame, alumina coating manufactured by Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) are two of the main candidates for the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Breeder Blanket (BB). In order to validate the performance of the coatings on relevant WCLL BB geometries, a mock-up was designed and will be characterized in an experimental facility operating with flowing lithium-lead, called TRIEX-II. The present work aims to illustrate the preliminary engineering design of a WCLL BB mock-up in order to deeply investigate permeation of hydrogen isotopes through PHTS water pipes. The permeation tests are planned in the temperature range between 330 and 500 °C, with hydrogen and deuterium partial pressure in the range of 1–1000 Pa. The hydrogen isotopes transport analysis carried out for the design and integration of the mock-up in TRIEX-II facility is also shown.