Ponente
Descripción
The European Test Blanket Module (TBM) programme is a key element of the European fusion roadmap, aiming to demonstrate tritium breeding and heat extraction technologies under fusion-relevant conditions and to support the development of future DEMO breeding blanket systems. Significant progress has been achieved in recent years in the design, safety assessment, manufacturing qualification and integration of the European Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) and Helium-Cooled Ceramic Pebble (HCCP) TBM concepts. Ongoing activities focus on design consolidation, safety demonstration, component fabrication, validation of manufacturing routes, material characterization, and the preparation of dedicated experimental campaigns to support licensing and future deployment in ITER.
Despite these advances, several critical challenges remain, particularly related to neutron-induced material degradation, tritium behaviour, instrumentation performance, and thermo-mechanical response under fusion-relevant irradiation conditions. The availability of the IFMIF-DONES facility could provide a unique opportunity to investigate these phenomena under a neutron spectrum representative of future fusion power plants and to generate qualification data for materials and technologies relevant to breeding blanket systems.
This contribution presents an overview of the current status of the European TBM project, with emphasis on outstanding irradiation-related challenges and qualification needs. Potential opportunities for utilizing DONES during its early operational phases are discussed. Preliminary testing activities could include irradiation of structural and functional materials, breeder and multiplier materials, tritium permeation barrier concepts, instrumentation components, and small-scale mock-ups representative of TBM systems. Such experiments would contribute to reducing technological risks, validating predictive models, and preparing a comprehensive irradiation programme supporting both ITER TBM exploitation and the development of DEMO breeding blankets.
Finally, the paper discusses potential synergies between the European TBM programme and the DONES user community, and outlines candidate experimental campaigns aligned with the pre-DEMO technology qualification strategy.