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2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Latest News
Researchers use one-of-a-kind expertise and capabilities to test fuels of tomorrow
At the Idaho National Laboratory Hot Fuel Examination Facility, containment box operator Jake Maupin moves a manipulator arm into position around a pencil-thin nuclear fuel rod. He is preparing for a procedure that he and his colleagues have practiced repeatedly in anticipation of this moment in the hot cell.
U. Fischer et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 1052-1059
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - First Wall, Blanket, and Shield | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A826
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An overview is provided of the design activities and the related neutronics support efforts conducted in the European Union for the development of breeder blankets for future fusion power reactors. The EU fusion programme considers two blanket lines, the Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed (HCPB) blanket with Lithium ceramics pebbles (Li4SiO4 or Li2TiO3) as breeder and beryllium pebbles as neutron multiplier, and the Helium-Cooled Lithium-Lead (HCLL) blanket with the Pb-Li eutectic alloy as breeder and neutron multiplier. The blanket design and the related R&D efforts are based on the use of the same coolant and the same modular blanket structure to minimise the development costs as much as possible. The neutronic support efforts include design analyses for the layout and optimization of the modular HCPB/HCLL blankets based on detailed three-dimensional Monte Carlo calculations as well as underlying neutronics activities conducted in the frame of the European Fusion and Activation File (EFF/EAF) projects to develop qualified nuclear data and computational tools for reliable neutronics design calculations.
