In-pile test of Li2TiO3 pebble bed with neutron pulse operation

Lithium titanate (Li2TiO3) is one of the candidate materials as tritium breeder in the breeding blanket of fusion reactors, and it is necessary to show the tritium release behavior of Li2TiO3 pebble beds. Therefore, a blanket in-pile mockup was developed and in situ tritium release experiments with the Li2TiO3 pebble bed were carried out in the Japan Materials Testing Reactor. In this study, the relationship between tritium release behavior from Li2TiO3 pebble beds and effects of various parameters were evaluated. The (R/G) ratio of tritium release (R) and tritium generation (G) was saturated when the temperature at the outside edge of the Li2TiO3 pebble bed became 300 °C. The tritium release amount increased cycle by cycle and saturated after about 20 pulse operations.