Fabricating tritium permeation barrier for PFC with a new non-coating strategy

Tritium (T) permeation through plasma-facing component (PFC) into the coolant is a major concern of fusion reactor operation. In this work, deuterium (D) permeation through CLAM steel, CLAM/CLAM and CLAM/Fe-Cr-Al samples prepared by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) are tested in a linear plasma device. Only the downstream surfaces of the samples are oxidized with controlled atmosphere to form permeation barrier. No significant effect on D diffusion and penetration can be observed for the joining interfaces, while the dense oxide layer at the downstream side plays an important role in suppressing D permeation. The downstream surface oxidization of CLAM/Fe-Cr-Al is found to effectively reduce D permeation flux by a factor up to 1000.

Optimization of Electron Beam Welding Joint of Water-Cooled Ceramic Breeder Blanket

The water-cooled ceramic breeder (WCCB) blanket is a component of the China Fusion Engineering Test Reactor (CFETR). The Reduced Activation Ferrite/Martensite (RAFM) steels are the preferred structural materials for WCCB blanket. As a kind of RAFM steels, China low activation martensitic (CLAM) steel was welded by electron beam welding (EBW), and then quenched-tempered treatment was carried out. The results show that at the welding state, the welding seam was composed of large martensite and δ ferrite and the organization of the heat-affected zone (HAZ) was changed slightly with the different heat input. Moreover, the hardness of welded joints was higher than that of base material (BM), but the impact toughness was very low. After quenched-tempered treatment, the δ ferrite in the weld was eliminated, the residual stress of the test plate decreased as a whole, and the mechanical properties were improved significantly.