A dual purpose fusion reactor concept with swirling flowing liquid protective wall using heavy metal molten salt

Liquid walls have many potential advantages to enhance the attractiveness of fusion energy systems. The most important advantages of using liquid walls in fusion reactors are to attain high power density, to reduce radiation damage in structural materials and improvements in plasma stability and confinement. Different liquid wall concepts are obtained by applying various forces to drive the liquid flow and restrain it against a backing solid wall. In the present work, a multi-purpose swirling flowing heavy metal molten salt, containing Flibe as the main constituent with increased mole-fractions of heavy metal salt (UF4) starting by 2 moles % up to 12 moles % has been used as an energy carrier in APEX to breed fissile and fusile fuel, to increase energy multiplication as well as to reduce material damage in structural materials. Neutron transport calculations are conducted with the help of SCALE4.3 SYSTEM by solving the Boltzmann transport equation with code XSDRNPM. Tritium breeding values are greater than 1.05 for the investigated range of molten salt mixtures in the flowing liquid wall so that tritium self-sufficiency has been maintained for DT driver. For 30 full power years, DPA and helium production rates are well below the presumable limit for investigated salt mixtures. Therefore, such a flowing protective liquid wall increases the lifetime of the rigid first wall structure to a plant lifetime of 30 years. Fissionable metal salt in the flowing liquid enables one to breed high quality fissile fuel for external reactors and increases plant power output