Cane Jenny, Barth Alan, Farrington Jaime, Flynn Ethan, Kirk Simon, Lilburne James, Vizvary Zsolt
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, Culham Campus , Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3DB, UK.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2024 Oct 9;382(2280):20230408. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2023.0408. Epub 2024 Aug 26.
The Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme aims to deliver a first-of-a-kind fusion prototype powerplant (SPP). The SPP plasma places extreme heat, particle and structural loads onto the plasma-facing components (PFCs) of the divertor, limiters and inboard and outboard sections of the first wall. The PFCs must manage the heat and particle loads and wider powerplant requirements relating to safety, net power generation, tritium breeding and plant availability. To enable STEP PFC concepts to be identified that satisfy these wide-ranging requirements, an iterative design ('Decide & Iterate') methodology has been used to synchronize a prioritized set of decisions, within the fast-paced, iterative, whole plant concept design schedule. This paper details the 'Decide and Iterate' methodology and explains how it has enabled the identification of the SPP PFC concepts. These include innovative PFC solutions such as a helium-cooled discrete and panel limiter design to increase tritium breeding while providing sufficient coverage and enabling individual limiter replacement; the integration of the outboard first wall with the breeding zone to enhance fuel self-sufficiency and power generation; and the use of heavy water (DO) within the inboard first wall and divertor PFCs to increase tritium breeding within the outboard breeding zone. This article is part of the theme issue 'Delivering Fusion Energy - The Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP)'.
能源生产球形托卡马克（STEP）项目旨在打造首个同类聚变原型发电厂（SPP）。SPP等离子体对偏滤器、限制器以及第一壁的内侧和外侧部分的面向等离子体部件（PFC）施加了极高的热、粒子和结构负荷。PFC必须管理热负荷和粒子负荷以及与安全、净发电、氚增殖和电厂可用性相关的更广泛的电厂要求。为了确定满足这些广泛要求的STEP PFC概念，已采用一种迭代设计（“决策与迭代”）方法，以便在快节奏、迭代的全厂概念设计进度内同步一组优先决策。本文详细介绍了“决策与迭代”方法，并解释了它如何促成了SPP PFC概念的确定。这些概念包括创新的PFC解决方案，例如氦冷却离散式和面板式限制器设计，以增加氚增殖，同时提供足够的覆盖范围并实现单个限制器的更换；外侧第一壁与增殖区的整合，以提高燃料自给率和发电量；以及在内侧第一壁和偏滤器PFC中使用重水（D₂O），以增加外侧增殖区内的氚增殖。本文是主题为“实现聚变能源——能源生产球形托卡马克（STEP）”特刊的一部分。
