THE EFFECT OF MATERIALS SELECTION ON THE PASSIVE SAFETY OF FUSION-REACTORS

Passive safety is a key issue for the public acceptance of fusion powe r. One of the most important safety considerations concerns the effect s of the dissipation of decay afterheat from the structural materials under conditions of absence of any form of active cooling. These consi derations, along with the waste issue, will constitute important crite ria for the selection of the structural materials of a fusion reactor. Here, a simulation of a postaccidental temperature transient of the S EAFP reference reactor is performed for two candidate steels: MANET an d AISI 316L and the vanadium alloy V-5Ti. Results demonstrate the clea r advantage of the V-5Ti over MANET, as well as the nonconformity of A ISI 316L.