Conceptual design and analysis of the HCCR breeder blanket for the K-DEMO

A helium-cooled ceramic reflector (HCCR) blanket was studied as a candidate breeder blanket for the Korean DEMO reactor. A detailed three-dimensional neutronics model based on a K-DEMO model and a simplified thermal-hydraulic model were established for the HCCR-DEMO blanket conceptual design analysis. The insertion of a graphite reflector resulted in more than 33 % reduction of the required total beryllium multiplier volume, while its influence on the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) was evaluated to be less than 2 %. The final overall TBR of the HCCR-DEMO blanket was estimated as being more than 1.15 even after operation of 20 effective full power years (EFPYs) without replacement.