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

Abstract

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.