Advanced power core system for the ARIES-AT power plant

The ARIES-AT power core was evolved with the overall objective of achieving high performance while maintaining attractive safety features, credible maintenance and fabrication processes, and reasonable design margins as a rough indication of reliability. The blanket and divertor designs are based on Pb-17Li as coolant and breeder, and low-activation SiCf/SiC as structural material. Flowing Pb-17Li in series through the divertor and blanket is appealing since it simplifies the coolant routing and minimize the number of cooling systems. However, Pb-17Li provides marginal heat transfer performance in particular in the presence of MHD effects and the divertor design had to be adapted to accommodate the peak design heat flux of 5 MW/m2. The blanket flow scheme enables operating Pb-17Li at a high outlet temperature (about 1100 °C) for high power cycle efficiency while maintaining SiCf/SiC at a substantially lower temperature consistent with allowable limits. Waste minimization and additional cost savings are achieved by radially subdividing the blanket into two zones: a replaceable first zone and a life of plant second zone. Maintenance methods have been investigated which allow for end-of-life replacement of individual components. This paper summarizes the results of the design study of the ARIES-AT power core focusing on the blanket and divertor and including a discussion of the key parameters influencing the design, such as the SiCf/SiC properties and the MHD effects, and a description of the design configuration, analysis results and reference operating parameters.