Staged deployment of the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility

The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) employs an accelerator based D-Li intense neutron source as defined in the 1995-96 Conceptual Design Activity (CDA) study. In 1999, IEA mandated a review of the CDA IFMIF design for cost reduction without change to its original mission. This objective was accomplished by eliminating the previously assumed possibility of potential upgrade of IFMIF beyond the user requirements. The total estimated cost was reduced from $797.2 M to $487.8 M. An option of deployment in 3 stages was also examined to reduce the initial investment and annual expenditures during construction. In this scenario, full performance is achieved gradually with each interim stage as follows. 1st Stage: 20% operation for material selection for ITER breeding blanket, 2nd Stage: 50% operation to demonstrate materials performance of a reference alloy for DEMO, 3rd Stage: full performance operation ( 2MW/m2 at 500cm3) to obtain engineering data for potential DEMO materials under irradiation up to 100-200 dpa. In summary, the new, reduced cost IFMIF design and staged deployment still satisfies the original mission. The estimated cost of the 1st Stage facility is only $303.6 M making it financially much more attractive. Currently, IFMIF Key Element Technology Phase (KEP) is underway to reduce the key technology risk factors. (author)