An in-pile experimental loop for the irradiation of tritium breeding ceramics in China Mianyang research reactor (CMRR)

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design 2021-03, Vol.164, p.112192, Article 112192
• Main Authors: Li, Rundong, Yang, Xin, Wang, Guanbo, Qian, Dazhi, Peng, Shuming, Long, Xingui, Zhang, Zhihua, Mi, Xiangmiao, Xiao, Chengjian, Zhao, Linjie, Xi, Zhiguo, Huang, Wen, Jiang, Yanwei, Duan, Shilin, Li, Jiangbo, Yuan, Shu, Zhang, Xinrong, Peng, Bo, Tang, Bin, Zhang, Songbao, Chen, Zhilin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breeder reactors; Ceramic tritium breeder; CMRR; In-pile irradiation loop; Inhomogeneity; Irradiation; Pellets; Tritium
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2020.112192

•An in-pile irradiation loop has been established in CMRR for in-situ tritium extraction study.•It allows loading or unloading the breeder pellets online by a special designed pneumatic system.•Several typical experiments have been performed to demonstrate its capability. A new in-pile experimental loop has been established in CMRR for ceramic tritium breeder irradiation. The most typical of this loop is the capability of online reloading of irradiated samples. The irradiation temperature in the pellets bed can be controlled within the range of 300～750 °C, with a spatial inhomogeneity of ±10 °C. Up to now, a series of irradiation experiments have been carried out on three different breeder materials, i.e. Li4SiO4 (7.5 % 6Li), Li4SiO4 (93 % 6Li) and Li2TiO3 (7.5 % 6Li) pellets, indicating the stability of the facility.