Open AccessRadioactive waste disposal characteristics of candidate tokamak demonstration reactors
Author(s) -
E. A. Hoffman,
Weston M. Stacey,
Nolan E. Hertel
Publication year - 1998
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/639799
Subject(s) - blanket , coolant , radioactive waste , tokamak , nuclear engineering , limiting , silicon carbide , structural material , materials science , waste management , environmental science , nuclear physics , engineering , mechanical engineering , metallurgy , physics , composite material , plasma
Results from the current physics, materials and blanket R and D programs are combined with physics and engineering design constraints to characterize candidate tokamak demonstration plant (DEMO) designs. Blanket designs based on the principal structural materials, breeding materials and coolants being developed for the DEMO were adapted from the literature. Neutron flux and activation calculations were performed, and several radioactive waste disposal indices were evaluated, for each design. Of the primary low-activation structural materials under development in the US, it appears that vanadium and ferritic steel alloys, and possibly silicon carbide, could lead to DEMO designs which could satisfy realistic low-level waste (LLW) criteria, provided that impurities can be controlled within plausible limits. Allowable LLW concentrations are established for the limiting alloying and impurity elements. All breeding materials and neutron multipliers considered meet the LLW criterion