0000000000117152

AUTHOR

I. Catanzaro

Conceptual design of the main Ancillary Systems of the ITER Water Cooled Lithium Lead Test Blanket System

Abstract The Water Cooled Lithium Lead Test Blanket System (WCLL TBS) is one of the EU Test Blanket Systems candidate for being installed and operated in ITER. In view of its Conceptual Design Review by F4E and ITER Organization (IO), planned for mid-September 2020, several technical activities have been performed in the areas of WCLL TBS Ancillary Systems design. In this article the outcomes of the conceptual design phase of the four main Ancillary Systems of WCLL TBS, namely the Water Cooling System (WCS), the Coolant Purification System (CPS), the PbLi loop and the Tritium Extraction System (TES), are reported and critically discussed. In particular, for each Ancillary System hereafter a…

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Structural assessment of the EU-DEMO WCLL Central Outboard Blanket segment under normal and off-normal operating conditions

Abstract Within the framework of the EUROfusion design activities concerning the EU-DEMO Breeding Blanket (BB) system, a research campaign has been carried out at the University of Palermo with the aim of investigating the structural behaviour of the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Central Outboard Blanket (COB) segment. The assessment has been performed considering three different loading scenarios: the Normal Operation (NO), the Over-Pressurization (OP) and the Upward Vertical Displacement Event (VDE-up). In particular, NO scenario represents the loading case referring to the nominal operating conditions, whereas the OP scenario refers to the loading conditions due to an in-box LOCA…

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Nuclear performances of the water-cooled lithium lead DEMO reactor: Neutronic analysis on a fully heterogeneous model

Abstract The development of a conceptual design for the Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO) is a key issue within the EUROfusion roadmap. The DEMO reactor is designed to produce a fusion power of about 2 GW and generate a substantial amount of electricity, relying on a closed tritium fuel cycle: it implies that the breeding blanket (BB) shall guarantee a suitable tritium production to enable a continuous operation without any external supply. The Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) concept is a candidate for the DEMO BB: it uses liquid Lithium Lead as breeder and neutron multiplier and water in PWR condition as coolant. The neutronics analyses carried out in the past have been performed …

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Structural assessment of a whole toroidal sector of the HELIAS 5-B breeding blanket

Abstract The European roadmap for the realization of fusion energy considers the stellarator line as a possible long-term alternative to a tokamak DEMO. In this context, from the plasma physics standpoint, the most promising option is a five-field period power plant called HELIcal-axis Advanced Stellarator (HELIAS) 5-B. In order to allow the electricity production, the HELIAS 5-B reactor must be endowed with a breeding blanket (BB). Hence, in this paper, the advancements in the HELIAS 5-B BB design are reported. In particular, the structural assessment of a whole BB period, extending along toroidal direction for 72 °, is depicted. A geometric configuration encompassing dummy BB segments has…

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Preliminary design of the top cap of DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead breeding blanket segments

Abstract Within the framework of EUROfusion R&D activity, a research campaign has been carried out at the University of Palermo, in close cooperation with ENEA labs, in order to preliminary design the top cap foreseen for the DEMO Water-Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) breeding blanket segments. Due to the high heat and pressure loads acting on such component, its design results particularly demanding and a specific multi-physics approach is needed, covering several aspects from thermal-hydraulics to structural assessments. Preliminary detailed CAD model of the cap integrated into the upper region of the WCLL breeding blanket outboard central segment has been set-up, equipped with proper cooling …

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ALLELIC VARIANTS OF CYP2E1 GENE IN HEPATOCARCINOMA PATIENTS AND IN HEPATIC TUMOR CELL LINES

Background and Aims: Hepatic enzyme CYP2E1 is involved in the metabolism of a number of exogenous and endogenous substances (i.e. ethanol, drugs and chemical carcinogens). Being polymorphic, CYP2E1 gene can give different xeno-metabolic capabilities in a population and it is well known that inadequate or no enzymatic deactivation of xenobiotics could induce an increased susceptibility to disease and cancer. In particular, one of the 5 -flanking region polymorphisms, able to differentiate CYP2E1 gene transcriptional activity, is caused by the appearance/disappearance of RsaI and PstI restriction sites, which generates two different alleles, namely *C1(Rsa+/Pst−) and *C2(Rsa−/Pst+) respective…

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On the effect of stiffening plates configuration on the DEMO Water Cooled Lithium Lead Breeding Blanket module thermo-mechanical behaviour

Abstract Within the framework of the pre-conceptual design of the EU-DEMO Breeding Blanket (BB) supported by EUROfusion action, results of the research activities carried out in the last years have highlighted that changes in the proposed Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) BB design have to be considered, especially as to the liquid breeder circulation path within the BB module. Therefore, in view of the definition of a final WCLL BB module layout, a parametric campaign of numerical analyses has been carried out at the University of Palermo in order to assess the impact of different SPs configurations on the module thermo-mechanical performances. To this purpose, attention has been focussed o…

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