Application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes as design tools for inertial confinement fusion reactor

Abstract

The engineering design of the new innovative fusion reactors constitutes a clear challenge for the need to overcome several new technological edges in every engineering aspect. The great amount of thermal energy delivered into any inertial fusion chamber and the large temperatures and thermal gradients that are envisaged, joined to the even more demanding aspects related to neutron activation, Tritium breeding and the characteristics that are imposed to the coolant that could be used for that purpose, converged into material selection in which liquid metal seems to be one of the most interesting options. The safety assessment of such Fusion reactors should be clearly provided to fulfill the requirements asked by the Regulatory Bodies in a near-term future, when licensing will be a must. Therefore the availability of well proven and validated engineering design tools is a must. In this context, CFD is one of the tools that are potentially needed for thermal-hydraulic design of such complex machines. The state-of-the-art of CFD technologies will be shown, in particular in relation with liquid metals.