The tritium breeding blanket (also known as a fusion blanket, lithium blanket or simply blanket), is a key part of many proposed fusion reactor designs. It serves several purposes; primarily it is to produce (or "breed") further tritium fuel for the nuclear fusion reaction, which owing to the scarcity of tritium would not be available in sufficient quantities, through the reaction of neutrons with lithium in the blanket.[1] The blanket may also act as a cooling mechanism, absorbing the energy from the neutrons produced by the reaction between deuterium and tritium ("D-T"), and further serves as shielding, preventing the high-energy neutrons from escaping to the area outside the reactor and protecting the more radiation-susceptible portions, such as ohmic or superconducting magnets, from damage.
Of these three duties, it is only the breeding portion that cannot be replaced by other means. For instance, a large quantity of water makes an excellent cooling system and neutron shield, as in the case of a conventional nuclear reactor. However, tritium is not a naturally occurring resource, and thus is difficult to obtain in sufficient quantity to run a reactor through other means, so if commercial fusion using the D-T cycle is to be achieved, successful breeding of the tritium in commercial quantities is a requirement.
ITER runs a major effort in blanket design and will test a number of potential solutions.[2] Concepts for the breeder blanket include helium-cooled lithium lead (HCLL), helium-cooled pebble bed (HCPB), and water-cooled lithium lead (WCLL) methods.[3] Six different tritium breeding systems, known as Test Blanket Modules (TBM) wil be tested in ITER.[4]
Some breeding blanket designs are based on lithium containing ceramics, with a focus on lithium titanate and lithium orthosilicate.[5] These materials, mostly in a pebble form, are used to produce and extract tritium and helium; must withstand high mechanical and thermal loads; and should not become excessively radioactive upon completion of their useful service life.
To date no large-scale breeding system has been attempted, and it is an open question whether such a system is possible to create.
A fast breeder reactor uses a blanket of uranium or thorium.