A study on the damage of potential first wall materials in a nuclear fusion reactor using plutonium bearing salt

Abstract

Selection of first wall material for fusion reactors is very crucial when taking into account of fusion blanket design and operation cost. A realistic way to extend the working period of first wall structure is to use a protective flowing liquid wall between fusion plasma and first wall. HYLIFE-II, one of the important fusion reactor design concepts, uses such a liquid wall. In the current article, the radiation damage on the first wall of HYLIFE-II fusion reactor was investigated for various candidate materials. In the liquid wall of the reactor, a molten salt containing weapon grade (WG) plutonium isotopes was used. The numerical results indicated that a refractory alloy of W-5Re was found to have the lowest damage values. In addition, the use of WG plutonium isotopes did not have a negative effect on the radiation damage characteristics of the investigated structural materials.