Nucleonics of a Be-Li-Th Blanket for the Fusion Breeder

The nuclear performance of a candidate fission-suppressed, U233-producing blanket is assessed. It is predicted to have a breeding ratio (fusile + fissile) of 1.68 and produce U233 at a rate of 8030 kg/year from 3140 MW of DT fusion and a blanket coverage of 96%. Blanket energy multiplication is estimated to vary between 1.3 and 2.0 as the U233/Th232 ratio varies between 0 and 0.5%. Heterogeneous effects in the blanket's pebble bed configuration were found to be important and more detailed analysis is needed to more accurately predict Li6 content required and U233 fission power versus U233 content.