Review of blanket designs for advanced fusion reactors

The dominating fraction of the power generated by fusion in the reactor is captured by neutron moderation in the blanket surrounding the plasma. From this, the efficiency of the fusion plant is predominated by the technologies applied to make electricity or hydrogen from the neutrons. The main blanket concepts addressed in this paper are advanced ceramic breeder concepts, dual coolant blankets as well as self-cooled liquid metal and Flibe blankets. Two important questions that are addressed are: (i) Can we draw a bottom line conclusion on the most promising concept(s)? (ii) What are the common issues to be resolved independently from individual design and layout proposals to define a feasible route towards advanced fusion reactors? For ceramic breeder concepts, a key issue in the long term could be the limitation of beryllium as the considered multiplier in terms of world sources and achievable temperature levels. For liquid metal blankets, attractive long-term visions have been developed but major technological challenges also exist for the in-vessel blanket technology and the corresponding sub-systems. The paper proposes a strategic conclusion derived from the review of blanket designs for advanced fusion reactors. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.