Analysis of the tritium breeding ratio benchmark experiments using the Monte Carlo code TRIPOLI-4

Tritium breeding is an essential element of fusion nuclear technology. A tritium breeding ratio greater than unity is necessary for self-sufficient fueling. To simulate the 14 MeV neutron transport in tritium breeding systems from the D–T fusion reaction, the 3D realistic modeling with Monte Carlo code and the point-wise nuclear data are recommended. Continuous-energy TRIPOLI-4 Monte Carlo transport code has been widely used on the radiation shielding, criticality safety, and fission reactor physics. For supporting the ITER TBM (test blanket module) neutronics study with TRIPOLI-4 code, this paper presents the TRIPOLI-4 simulation of TBR (tritium breeding ratio) for six OKTAVIAN spherical assemblies of Osaka University: Li, Li–C, Pb–Li, Pb–Li–C, Be–Li, and Be–Li–C. It also investigates the impact of nuclear data libraries on TBR calculations from ENDF/B-VI.4, ENDF/B-VII.0, JEFF-3.1, JENDL-3.3, and FENDL-2.1. In general, TRIPOLI-4 produced satisfactory C/E values. Only beryllium of JEFF-3.1 library introduces higher uncertainties.