An assessment of the base blanket for ITER

Ideally, the ITER base blanket would provide the necessary tritium for the reactor to be self-sufficient during operation, while having minimal impact on the overall reactor cost, reliability and safety. A solid breeder blanket has been developed in the CDA phase in an attempt to achieve such objectives. The reference solid breeder base blanket configurations at the end of the CDA phase has many attractive features such as a tritium breeding ratio (TBR) of 0. 8-0. 9 and a reasonably low tritium inventory. However, some concerns regarding the risk, cost and benefit of the base blanket have been raised. This paper addresses these concerns. The basis for the selection of a breeding blanket is first discussed in light of the incremental risk, cost and benefits relative to a non-breeding blanket. Key issues associated with the CDA breeding blanket configurations are then analyzed. Finally, alternative schemes that could enhance the attractiveness and flexibility of a breeding blanket are explored