Speaker
R. Heidinger
(Fusion for Energy)
Description
Fusion road maps defined by both Europe and Japan, Parties to the Broader Approach Agreement (BA) where the IFMIF/EVEDA project is underway, have yet again confirmed the central need of a neutron source dedicated for fusion materials qualification. In the framework of the BA, engineering design and engineering validation activities are conducted which are targeted to prepare the foundations towards the construction and operation for an International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF).
These design activities have already delivered the Intermediate IFMIF Engineering Design Report (IIEDR), which defines a plant that is suited to qualify materials for advanced fusion reactor concepts including fusion power plants. At the same time, discussions framed within Europe leading to a “Roadmap to the realisation of fusion energy” established that, for the purposes of an early DEMO reactor, requirements for IFMIF could be somewhat reduced, particularly in terms of available neutron flux: the degradation of structural materials, in particular Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic steels, would need to be studied in a range of structural damage between 20 and 50 dpa as opposed to the ultimate structural damage range between 100 and 150 dpa.
Under these conditions, while maintaining the full energy of 40MeV, the IFMIF beam current could be limited to 125 mA, hence allowing a single accelerator solution. After the completion of the IIEDR design activities in Europe have continued towards the design of a cost-reduced version of IFMIF, so called DONES. The design strategy for DONES has been set to keep the volume comparable to the one of the full IFMIF facility while reaching the upper limit of the reduced testing range still in a reasonable irradiation time of 2 to 4 years. An ad hoc group was established in the frame of the Fusion for Energy governance (GB-TAP) in order to evaluate comparative merits of the various Neutron Source options and DONES was indeed found to be the best option to pursue. In parallel, Japan also confirmed their interest to pursue an almost identical technical solution [1] making it possible to now engage in discussion at the international level to pursue jointly such project.
This paper will report on key elements of the DONES design, the expected time and cost frame considered for the facility.
Ref. [1]: T. Nishitani et al., Fusion Science and Technology, 66 (2014) pp. 1-8
Co-authors
A. Ibarra
(CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain)
J. Sanchez
(CIEMAT, Madrid, Spain)
P. Barabaschi
(Fusion for Energy, BFD Department, Garching, Germany)
R. Heidinger
(Fusion for Energy, BFD Department, Garching, Germany)
