UWFDM-1414 Three-Dimensional Evaluation of Tritium Breeding Ratio, Nuclear Heating Distribution, and Neutron Wall Loading Profile for ARIES-ACT-1 (SiC/LiPb) Design

The ARIES team has just completed the detailed design of ARIES-ACT-1 with aggressive physics and advanced SiC technology. Accurate neutronic characterizations of ARIES-ACT-1 are essential in determining its operational nuclear parameters. The neutron wall loading (NWL), tritium breeding ratio (TBR), and nuclear heating distribution are parameters that must be determined for tritium self-sustainability and adequate shielding and protection of ARIES fusion power plants. After determining the NWL profile at the first wall (FW), radial builds were defined to satisfy the shielding requirements. Using the DAGMC code that couples the CAD drawings with the MCNP Monte Carlo radiation transport code, the NWL, breeding, and heating parameters were determined for ARIES-ACT-1. The peak NWL values are 2.9 MW/m for the inboard FW, 4.5 MW/m for the outboard FW, and 1.8 MW/m for the divertor. The degradation of the tritium breeding based on the addition of individual design elements to the 3-D model calculated a final TBR of 1.05. Analysis of the nuclear heating determined the energy multiplication to be 1.144. Our final 3-D nuclear analyses had much to do with defining and reshaping the radial and vertical builds of ARIES-ACT-1.