Decay heat experiment and validation of calculation code systems for fusion reactor

Although accurate estimation of decay heat value is essential for safety analyses of fusion reactors against loss of coolant accidents and so on, no experimental work has been devoted to validating the estimation. Hence, a decay heat measurement experiment was performed as a task (T-339) of ITER/EDA. A new detector, the Whole Energy Absorption Spectrometer (WEAS), was developed for accurate and efficient measurements of decay heat. Decay heat produced in the thirty-two sample materials which were irradiated by 14-MeV neutrons at FNS/JAERI were measured with WEAS for a wide cooling time period from 1 min to 400 days. The data presently obtained were the first experimental decay heat data in the field of fusion. Validity of decay heat calculation codes of ACT4 and CINAC-V4, activation cross section libraries of FENDL/A-2.0 and JENDL Activation File, and decay data was investigated through analyses of the experiment. As a result, several points that should be modified were found in the codes and data. After solving the problems, it was demonstrated that decay heat valued calculated for most of samples were in good agreement with the experimental data. Especially for stainless steel 316 and copper, which were important materials for ITER, decay heat could be predicted with accuracy of ±10%. (author)