Development of a Fusion Fuel Cycle Systems Code

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The tritium inventory in a D-T fusion experiment, like ITER, may be the major hazard onsite. This tritium is distributed throughout various systems and components. A major thrust of safety work has been aimed at reducing these tritium inventories, or at least at minimizing the amount of tritium that could be mobilized. I have developed models for a time-dependent fuel cycle systems code, which will aid in directing designers towards safer, lower inventory designs. The code will provide a self-consistent picture of system interactions and system interdependencies, and provide a better understanding of how tritium inventories are influenced. A “systems” approach is valuable in that a wide range of parameters can be studied, and more promising regions of parameter space can be identified. Ultimately, designers can use this information to specify a machine with minimum tritium inventory, given various constraints. Here, I discuss the models that describe tritium inventory in various components as a function of system parameters, and the unique capabilities of a code that will implement them. The models are time dependent and reflect a level of detail consistent with a systems type of analysis. The models support both a stand-alone Tritium Systems Code, and a module for the SUPERCODE, a time-dependent tokamak systems code. Through both versions, we should gain a better understanding of the interactions among the various components of the fuel cycle systems.