Analysis of the SEAFP Reactor Fuel Cycle

The safety aspects of a fusion reactor fuel cycle, which handles substantial quantities of tritium, have been assessed in the framework of the European Programme on Safety and Environmental Assessment of Fusion Power Long Term (SEAL). This study focused on the assessment of the tritium inventory that could be released from interlinked systems in accidental scenarios. A systematic review of the fuel cycle systems was performed by focusing attention on the main interfaces and to the possible propagation of accident sequences through these interfaces. For the bounding accident sequences identified, deterministic analyses were carried out to determine the accident consequences. Both process source terms (PST) and environmental source terms (EST) were estimated. Simultaneous failure of the primary and secondary containment was considered to be beyond the design basis, nevertheless a preliminary analysis has been carried out; a bounding accident sequence related to a double failure, involving a hydrogen fire, has led to a tritium environmental release of 5.3 g and the wall mechanical load deriving from the maximum hypoth-esizable hydrogen detonation has been defined. Tritium releases into the secondary containment are treated by the appropriate detritiation and by the vent detritiation system. The related EST has been estimated based on an overall tritium cleanup efficiency of 99%, deliberately chosen low to cause the EST to be overestimated. The maximum tritium environmental release is less than 11 g and corresponds to an in-vessel LOCA. For accidents initiating in the fuel cycle only, the maximum tritium release is at most 3.1 g.