An Inherently Safe Tandem Mirror Fusion Blanket Concept

ABSTRACT

This paper describes a concept for a high performance, inherently safe fusion reactor blanket using helium coolant, beryllium multiplier, lithium breeder and a vanadium alloy structure. The goals of the design were to explore the possibility of inherent tolerance to loss of coolant and flow accidents while minimizing the cost of electricity. Results indicate high net thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency (45.5%), good energy multiplication (1.64) and excellent afterheat tolerance, with a maximum blanket temperature of 760°C after one year with no cooling. However, the calculated COE (0.0405$/kW_e.h) is slightly higher than other blankets costed on a similar basis by the MINIMARS¹ program because of the projected high cost of vanadium.