Identification of blanket design points using an integrated multi-physics approach
Abstract The breeding blanket (BB) is one of the key components for a fusion reactor. It is expected to sustain and remove considerable heat loads due to the heat flux coming from the plasma and the nuclear power deposited by the fusion neutrons. In the design of the BB, the engineering requirements of nuclear, material and safety kind are involved. In the European DEMO project, several efforts are dedicated to the development of an integrated simulation-design tool able to perform a multi-physics analysis, allowing the characterisation of BB design points which are consistent from the neutronic, thermal-hydraulic and thermo-mechanical point of view. Furthermore, at Karlsruhe Institute of T…
Molecular Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria Occurring in Must and Wine
A specifically amplified polymorphic DNA-polymerase chain reaction (SAPD-PCR), a molecular fingerprinting method based on the amplification of specific gene sequences, was applied in order to allow a rapid identification of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) occurring in must and wine. The applicability of this method was confirmed with isolated strains from different wine samples from the German wine growing region Palatinate. In addition, the formation of biogenic amines by the isolated strains was studied. More than half of the bacterial isolates from 50 red and white wine samples were able to produce biogenic amines. General health concerns related to biogenic amines in must and wine underline …
Studies on Flat Sandwich-type Self-Powered Detectors for Flux Measurements in ITER Test Blanket Modules
Neutron and gamma flux measurements in designated positions in the test blanket modules (TBM) of ITER will be important tasks during ITER’s campaigns. As part of the ongoing task on development of nuclear instrumentation for application in European ITER TBMs, experimental investigations on self-powered detectors (SPD) are undertaken. This paper reports the findings of neutron and photon irradiation tests performed with a test SPD in flat sandwich-like geometry. Whereas both neutrons and gammas can be detected with appropriate optimization of geometries, materials and sizes of the components, the present sandwich-like design is more sensitive to gammas than 14 MeV neutrons. Range of SPD curr…
Experimental Assessment of a Flat Sandwich-Like Self-Powered Detector for Nuclear Measurements in ITER Test Blanket Modules
Neutron and gamma flux measurements in designated positions in the test blanket modules (TBMs) of ITER will be important tasks during its campaigns. Investigations on self-powered detectors (SPDs), a class of reactor flux monitors are undertaken in the framework of an ongoing project on development of nuclear instrumentation for European ITER TBMs. This paper reports the findings of experiments performed with an SPD in flat sandwich-like geometry. A detector with vanadium emitter is chosen for preliminary studies. Its irradiation in a thermal neutron field gives a proof of the principle of flat SPDs. It is further irradiated in the mixed neutron-gamma field of a 14-MeV neutron generator and…
In vitro and in vivo sulfate reduction in the gut contents of the termite Mastotermes darwiniensis and the rose-chafer Pachnoda marginata.
Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) from termites have been assigned to the genus Desulfovibrio. Desulfovibrio intestinalis lives in the gut of the Australian termite Mastotermes darwiniensis. For the first time we were able to enrich and identify a sulfate-reducing bacterium from the gut of the rose-chafer Pachnoda marginata, which showed the highest 16S rDNA sequence identity (93%) to Desulfovibrio intestinalis and Desulfovibrio strain STL1. Compared to Mastotermes darwiniensis (1x10(7) cells of SRB per ml gut contents), sulfate-reducing bacteria occurred in higher numbers in the gut contents of Pachnoda marginata reaching cell titers of up to 2x10(8) cells per ml gut contents. In vitro sulfa…
Overview of the JET results in support to ITER
The 2014–2016 JET results are reviewed in the light of their significance for optimising the ITER research plan for the active and non-active operation. More than 60 h of plasma operation with ITER first wall materials successfully took place since its installation in 2011. New multi-machine scaling of the type I-ELM divertor energy flux density to ITER is supported by first principle modelling. ITER relevant disruption experiments and first principle modelling are reported with a set of three disruption mitigation valves mimicking the ITER setup. Insights of the L–H power threshold in Deuterium and Hydrogen are given, stressing the importance of the magnetic configurations and the recent m…