Neutronic analyses of design issues affecting the tritium breeding performance in different DEMO blanket concepts

Neutronic analyses were performed to assess systematically the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) variations in the DEMO for the different blanket concepts HCPB, HCLL, WCLL and DCLL DEMOs due to modifications of the blanket configurations. A dedicated automated procedure was developed to fill the breeding modules in the common generic model in correspondence to the different concepts. The TBR calculations were carried out using the MCNP5 Monte Carlo code. The following parameters affecting the global TBR were investigated: TBR poloidal distribution, radial breeder zone depth, 6Li enrichment, steel content in the breeder modules, poloidal segmentation of the breeder blanket volume, size of gaps between blankets, thickness of the first wall and of the tungsten armour. Based on the results a set of practical guidelines was prepared for the designers developing the individual breeding blanket concepts with the goal to achieve the required tritium breeding performance in DEMO.