| Project Detail |
Fusion power using deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel must achieve unprecedented tritium-breeding ratios (TBR) to enable rapid fusion deployment and play a role in grid decarbonization. FLiBe based liquid-immersion-blanket (LIB) science , a simple molten salt made from a mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride, remains at basic principles from a lack of experimental data and capabilities in the breeding material under flux of neutrons from D-T fusion reactions.
Project Innovation + Advantages:
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center and Idaho National Laboratory, with its Safety and Tritium Applied Research Facility, propose a critical-path tritium-breeding experiment for LIB technology. The technological development for LIBs requires high temperatures, hazardous material handling and access to D-T fusion neutron sources. The Liquid Immersion Blanket: Robust Accountancy (LIBRA) experiment will investigate tritium-breeding capabilities under these extreme conditions. It will examine a simple molten-FLiBe-salt approach to tritium-breeding for fusion power plants and show this is possible with 70% lower-cost LIB technology than state-of-the-art breeding blankets.
Potential Impact:
The LIBRA team will demonstrate unprecedented tritium-breeding ratios possible with 70% lower cost LIB technology. |
