Candidate materials for the design and construction of DEMO and future fusion reactors will be irradiated at the IFMIF-DONES facility. The concept of this facility is based on neutron radiation generated by the nuclear stripping reaction between 40 MeV deuterons and lithium.
Meeting the requirements for the lithium target—provided by the Li systems—poses significant challenges for current lithium technology. The formation of radioactive isotopes has major implications for nuclear safety. Additionally, impurities can compromise the stability of the lithium target’s free surface, while the presence of gases and solid particles may promote the nucleation of boiling phenomena.
To monitor and maintain impurity levels within specified limits, an Impurity Control System (ICS) is required in the plant. The ICS of IFMIF-DONES will consist of a bypass circuit equipped with traps and impurity monitors. It will also include a system for extracting lithium samples, which will be analyzed using dedicated chemical procedures.
As part of the NEURON DONES project, Empresarios Agrupados Internacional, in collaboration with CIEMAT, has simulated the behavior of a plugging monitor used to control the cold trap temperature in a liquid lithium loop, similar to the one designed for IFMIF-DONES.
Result will allow analyzing the feasibility of using the plugging monitor in this way as well as will provide an insight on the effect of some design parameters or operation parameters.
This project, with file number MIG-20221067, has been funded by the CDTI through the 2022 call of the ‘CDTI Missions’ Program and by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.