The breeding blanket interface (BBI) and the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA)

The Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory is charged with developing and demonstrating the fusion fuel processing requirement for the magnetic fusion energy program. The key fusion fuel streams are the plasma exhaust and the blanket stream. At present, the technology under development at TSTA includes only the plasma exhaust. The blanket is a logical upgrade to TSTA and the upgrade is the subject of an ongoing study. The program, called the Breeding Blanket Interface (BBI), is being investigated with the intention of installing such a processing system at TSTA in the 1992-1993 time frame. The BBI program was initiated in July, 1987. The conditions of the tritium product streams of various blankets were determined. Pre-conceptual designs of the BBI systems were developed for two blanket concepts: aqueous lithium salt solution blanket and solid breeder blanket. Preliminary estimates of costs have been performed and the schedule of the TSTA/BBI program has been developed. The schedule and planning of the TSTA/BBI program are discussed. The goal of the program is to establish the engineering data basis of the fuel cycle for an International Thermonuclear Engineering Reactor.<>