Fusion Engineering and Design

ACABLoop simulation tool: improving the activation prediction of flowing PbLi alloy in
support of DEMO fusion reactor design
--Manuscript Draft--

Manuscript Number: FUSENGDES-D-23-00453

Article Type: VSI: ISFNT-15

Keywords: DEMO, safety, activation, PbLi, simulation

Corresponding Author: Mauricio Garcia

SPAIN

First Author: Mauricio Garcia

Order of Authors: Mauricio Garcia

Juan Pablo Catalán

Javier Sanz

Abstract: PbLi alloy as breeder material is considered within the EUROfusion Programme in the
Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead blanket concept of DEMO fusion reactor. The PbLi travels
along loops entering and leaving the Breeding Blanket for recovering the produced
tritium, removing generated impurities and activated corrosion products, etc.
Prediction of activation-related responses in the flowing PbLi is a key safety issue in
support of DEMO design. Traditionally, the activation inventory generated in the flowing
PbLi has been calculated considering a simplistic approach, valid only for a pre-
conceptual analysis. Additionally, the simulation of some phenomena is not possible
when using that simple methodology.
ACABLoop has been conceived as a tool to overcome such limitations predicting more
realistically the activation of the PbLi alloy, providing all the information related to the
generated isotopic inventory in the fluid.
Status of ACABLoop development is presented as well as some applications for PbLi
activation in DEMO loops, proving its suitability for fusion activation
calculations. Additionally, a promising first validation of ACABLoop using a water loop
and a D-T fusion neutron spectrum is shown. Last improvements of ACABLoop are
devoted to allowing incorporation of CFD information as a tool for increasing the
reliability in some specific situations.

Suggested Reviewers: Iole Palermo

iole.palermo@ciemat.es

Raquel Gonzalez
raquel.gonzalez.arrabal@upm.es

David Jimenez
d.jimenez@ciemat.es

Fernando Mota
fernando.mota@ciemat.es

Raquel Roman
raquel.roman@ciemat.es

Fernando Arranz
fernando.arranz@ciemat.es

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Cover Letter

Dear Fusion Engineering and Design editors,

1
2 September 25, 2023
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6 I am writing as participant to the ISFNT15 symposium recently held in Las Palmas,
7 Spain. We wish to submit an original research article entitled “ACABLoop simulation
8
9 tool: improving the activation prediction of flowing PbLi alloy in support of DEMO
10 fusion reactor design” for consideration by Fusion Engineering and Design.
11
12 We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is
13 currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.
14
15 In this paper, we present a new simulation tool for activation of fluids in movement
16
17
applied to the development of DEMO fusion reactor, focusing on safety related issues.
18
19 We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
20
21 Please address all correspondence concerning this paper to me at
22 maurigarciac@ind.uned.es
23
24 Thank you for your consideration of this manuscript.
25
26 Sincerely,
27
28
29
30 Dr. Eng. Mauricio Garcia
31 Department of Energy Engineering
32
33 Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales
34 UNED
35 C/ Juan del Rosal 12
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37 28040, Madrid
38 Spain
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Manuscript - New Submission Click here to view linked References

ACABLoop simulation tool: improving the activation prediction of

flowing PbLi alloy in support of DEMO fusion reactor design
Mauricio García, Juan Pablo Catalán, Javier Sanz

UNED, E.T.S. Ingenieros Industriales. Dept. Ingeniería Energética, Madrid, Spain

PbLi alloy as breeder material is considered within the EUROfusion Programme in the Water-Cooled Lithium-
Lead blanket concept of DEMO fusion reactor. The PbLi travels along loops entering and leaving the Breeding
Blanket for recovering the produced tritium, removing generated impurities and activated corrosion products, etc.
Prediction of activation-related responses in the flowing PbLi is a key safety issue in support of DEMO design.
Traditionally, the activation inventory generated in the flowing PbLi has been calculated considering a simplistic
approach, valid only for a pre-conceptual analysis. Additionally, the simulation of some phenomena is not possible
when using that simple methodology.
ACABLoop has been conceived as a tool to overcome such limitations predicting more realistically the activation
of the PbLi alloy, providing all the information related to the generated isotopic inventory in the fluid.
Status of ACABLoop development is presented as well as some applications for PbLi activation in DEMO loops,
proving its suitability for fusion activation calculations. Additionally, a promising first validation of ACABLoop
using a water loop and a D-T fusion neutron spectrum is shown. Last improvements of ACABLoop are devoted to
allowing incorporation of CFD information as a tool for increasing the reliability in some specific situations.

Keywords: DEMO, safety, activation, PbLi, simulation

1. Introduction activities, and iii) with regard to the consequences of an

accidental loss of flow in the loop.
Within the international activities planned to the design of
a Demonstration Fusion Power Reactor (DEMO), several
blanket concepts under development as the Helium
Cooled Lithium Lead (HCLL), the Water Cooled Lithium
Lead (WCLL) and the Dual Coolant Lithium Lead
(DCLL) use PbLi alloy enriched to 90% in Li-6 as neutron
multiplier, tritium breeder and carrier.
The PbLi travels along pipe loops entering and leaving the
BB modules located inside the Vacuum Vessel. These
loops have several missions: i) to take the tritium
produced inside the BB to the Tritium Extraction System
(TES), ii) to remove the generated impurities and
Activated Corrosion Products (ACP) in the Purification Fig. 1. Vertical view of the PbLi loops (arrows in red at the left
side) in a European Tokamak Building layout
System (PS), iii) to produce gravitational draining of the
BB modules, iv) to maintain the PbLi in liquid state, and Traditionally, the activation inventory generated in the
v) to transport the blanket heat to the steam generators. flowing PbLi has been calculated considering a
Therefore, PbLi is activated by neutron irradiation inside continuous irradiation of the alloy keeping the realistic
the BB, undergoing decay along the rest of the loop, mass expected neutron fluence, and the injection/extraction of
extractions in the TES and PS, and mass injection because masses have been considered superficially. Previous
of incorporation of corrosion products along all the loops. works have pointed out the need for considering a more
realistic approach for the activation simulation of the
Figure 1 shows a conceptual design of PbLi loops in the
flowing fluids [1]. Some of the major features of the
Tokamak building of the EUROfusion DEMO reactor;
facilities involved in this kind of issues highlighted as
red arrows at the left part show the movement of the PbLi
relevant to be considered in the simulation of the fluid
alloy entering and leaving the BB in each cycle. The TES
activation are the following: i) the residence time of the
is located at the Floor 3 and the PS at the Floor 1; both
fluid within the area being irradiated, ii) the incorporation
outside the Tokamak Shielding. The whole Tokamak is
of corrosion products to the flowing fluid, iii) the
expected to be fed by several PbLi loops.
extraction of materials as Tritium recovery in DEMO
The radioactive inventory generated in the PbLi plays a Fusion facilities, iv) the need for incorporating CFD
major role related to: i) the design of the TES and PS, ii) information thus considering a more realistic movement
the planning of maintenance and waste management of the fluid in the cavities of the facility, and, v) the effect

_______________________________________________________________________________
author’s email: maurigarciac@ind.uned.es
of considering the realistic pulse functioning of the Fusion -Each of the cooling steps is characterized by the time
Facility on the fluid activation, among others. {t2i}, being this number the time for the pure decay of the
isotope inventory of the flowing fluid.
ACABLoop is a computational System to face in a more
-Node “0” for the first cycle represents the initial
realistic way the activation of the PbLi alloy in the
composition of the fluid.
EUROfusion DEMO facility, being also useful for the
-Both irradiation and cooling steps are simulated using
activation simulation of any flowing fluid experiencing
ACAB activation code.
activation and decay cycles. ACABLoop is conceived to
-The isotopic inventory for each of the nodes is
simulate the irradiation and activation of the flowing fluid
collected; the initial composition for any of the nodes is
considering the above-mentioned issues, providing all the
that obtained after the previous step simulation.
information related to the generated isotopic inventory in
-The isotopic inventory obtained at node “2” is used
the fluid, as Activity, Decay Heat, Contact Dose rates,
as composition for node “0” for the next cycle; being
Waste indexes, etc. ACABLoop is currently not in a
repeated this procedure for all the cycles to simulate
mature phase, but in continuous improvement. Last
-The isotopic inventory at any of the nodes can be
analyses point out the need for the incorporation of
modified thus simulating addition or removal of some
realistic behavior of the fluid movement along the cavities
materials (e.g. incorporation of corrosion products,
of the facility by means of data from CFD simulations.
extraction of Tritium or materials for purification, etc.)
2. ACABLoop system code -ACABLoop provides, after any number of cycles and
for any of the nodes the isotopic inventory and activation
This section is devoted to the presentation of the related responses: Activity, Decay Heat, Contact Dose
ACABLoop system code. We firstly present the Rates, Waste disposal indexes, etc.
methodology used by the code; then, current capabilities
and ongoing developments are described. At this point, As example let us consider the implementation of the
preliminary methodology on CFD incorporation to ACABLoop methodology to the PbLi movement in the
ACABLoop is presented. Finally, a validation DEMO Tokamak. Figure 3 shows a simplified view of the
considering the prediction of N16 activity for the facility alloy movement (in red arrows) in the WCLL BB model
“FNG experiment using an ITER FW mock-up and the positions for nodes 0, 1 and 2. Node “0” is located
component” using water as fluid is presented. at the entrance of the BB for the first time and is fed with
the initial composition of the alloy. Node “1” is located at
2.1 ACABLoop methodology the outlet of the BB. Node “2” is located at the next
We are considering the activation of a flowing fluid entrance to the BB substituting the initial composition of
experiencing several irradiation and decay phases along the alloy by the new one as results of the irradiation inside
its pathway, repeated along several cycles. Therefore, a the BB and the decay and incorporation/extraction of
cycle is composed by two phases: Irradiation + Cooling, materials along the movement from position “1” to “2”.
being each of the two phases divided in several steps. A This scheme is repeated for the desired number of times.
step is some time when the fluid is either being irradiated
or experiencing decay. Additionally, some materials can
be added or removed from the fluid after any of the steps,
in a position of the pathway corresponding to a specific
“node”. The scheme used by ACABLoop for each of these
repeated cycles is shown in Figure 2. We here assume a
cycle as a pathway of a unit-volume of fluid that is
composed by a first pure irradiation phase followed by a
pure cooling phase; however, cycles with a mixture of
irradiation and cooling steps as required by the facility can
be also simulated.
Fig. 3. Simplified view of the alloy movement (in red
arrows) in the WCLL BB model and positions of the “nodes” for
ACABLoop simulation
2.2 ACABLoop capabilities and ongoing
Fig. 2. Scheme of ACABLoop methodology for activation developments
of repeated cycles ACABLoop consist of several Fortran and Python scripts
Some remarks for the understanding of the using ACAB [2] as the activation code. ACABLoop
methodology used by ACABLoop are the following: provides all the isotopic inventory and activation-related
-The numbers 0, 11, 12, …, 1(n-1), 1, 21, 22, …, 2(m- responses as Activity, Decay heat, Contact Dose and
1), 2 are the “nodes”, that is, instants/positions just after Waste disposal indexes for any of the nodes shown in
an irradiation or cooling step. For each of the nodes there Error! Reference source not found.. This “raw data” is
are a defined isotopic inventory of the fluid. then managed by auxiliary python scripts to extract the
-Each of the irradiation steps is characterized by a desired information.
couple {Φ1i, t1i}, where Φ1i is the neutron spectra
irradiating the fluid during the time t1i.
 Table 1 shows current ACABLoop approach to the the PbLi alloy in some specific situations. All these
main real features of the DEMO PbLi loops under the approaches are implemented in the ACABLoop code by
WCLL blanket configuration. Ongoing improvements are using specific python or fortran scripts.
mainly focused on the incorporation of the CFD
information to simulate more accurately the movement of
Table 1. Current status and capabilities of ACABLoop
Realistic behavior of the alloy along the PbLi loops vs current ACABLoop approach
# # feature Realistic behavior Current ACABLoop approach
1 Movement of the alloy PbLi is not static but it is moving This feature is considered in contrast
along the loops along blanket cavities to the traditional approach
2 Fluid-dynamic effects on Stream lines showing heterogeneous New approach starting in 2022 using
the flowing alloy along velocity vector distribution along streamlines from CFD information;
cavities of the loops pathway in CFD simulations further improvement is needed
3 Neutron spectra irradiating The neutron spectra experienced by Several neutron spectra are jointly
the moving PbLi alloy the moving alloy changes used for different alloy positions;
continuously along its pathway further improvement is needed
4 Tritium extraction system Tritium generated in the PbLi is This feature is considered
extracted by the TES cycle by cycle
5 Impurities in the PbLi Initial PbLi has impurities This feature is considered
6 Purification system (PS) Some materials generated or This feature is considered
incorporated to the flowing alloy are
extracted by the PS thus aiding to keep
the purity of the PbLi
7 Activated Corrosion Degradation of cavity materials This feature is considered in a
Products (ACP) causes the incorporation of substances preliminary way.
to the flowing PbLi
8 Pulsed regime of DEMO Fusion reaction will be pulsed This feature is considered

2.3 Preliminary methodology on CFD t1i} is not realistic because of the different times spent by
incorporation to ACABLoop the fluid particles along their pathways. For these cases,
ACABLoop methodology proceeds as it follows:
In some situations, as when turbulences appear in the
i) CFD simulation of fluid movement along the
movement of the fluid, the incorporation of CFD
cavities of the geometry (using CAD and
information to the ACABLoop code seems to be a good
OpenFoam/Simflow) and extraction of information from
strategy to take into account the different residence times
CFD simulation and incorporation to ACABLoop; this
of the fluid particles in the loops. For this reason, we are
step provides the average values of {t1i} and {t2i} sets,
developing an extended capability for ACABLoop to
ii) radiation transport simulation of the neutron source
consider such feature in the simulations. We here
irradiating the fluid along the cavities of the facility (using
illustrate the procedure using an easy geometry traversed
MCNP6) and extraction of information from MCNP6 [4]
by water. We can see in Figure 4 a simple model where
simulation and incorporation to ACABLoop code; this
water enters by the lower part of the figure (red arrow;
step provides the values of the {Φ1i} set,
fluid inlet) with a ramification and a final release in the
upper part of the figure (red arrow; fluid outlet). As it can Regarding the first step, we chop the geometry in
be seen in the streamlines of the right part of Figure 4, sections along fluid pathway to predict the average value
obtained after a simulation using SimFlow [3] code, the of the “t1i”. For first section used in this example, that is,
water speed is very different for locations with almost the stretch from the inlet to the expansion volume
laminar movement compared to that showing turbulences. (hereinafter “Volume A”), the procedure (applicable to
the remainder sections) consists of the following steps:
1. We use the paraview [5] filter
“CellDataToPointData” on the velocity field provided
after SimFlow simulation. The Cell Data to Point Data
filter averages the values of the cell attributes of the cells
surrounding a point to compute point attributes.
2. We apply the paraview filter “Mask Points” to the
previous field. The Mask Points filter reduces the number
of points in the dataset. We use for this filter the value “on
Fig. 4. Geometry (left) and streamlines from SimFlow ratio” calculated as the ratio between the number of points
simulation (right) of water movement view using Paraview of the velocity field (in this case = 38900) over the desired
In this kind of cases, the assumption of considering a number of streamlines to be used (in this case we will use
residence time calculated using the ratio “volume over 100 streamlines). Therefore, the “on ratio” value is fixed
mass flow” for each of the times “t1i” of the couples {Φ1i, as 389. Additionally, the value of the filter related to
“maximum number of points” is fixed as the desired In this section we show the first validation done for the
number of streamlines (in this case, we want to be 100). ACABLoop system code. This validation compares the
3. We apply the paraview filter “streamtracer with N16 production obtained using ACABLoop in the water
custom Source” on the previous result after the filter circuit of the ITER first wall mock-up and coolant channel
“Mask Points”. The Stream Tracer filter generates irradiated at the Frascati Neutron Generator 14 MeV, with
streamlines in a vector field from a collection of seed experimental results as well as with the prediction done
points. We chose the velocity field after step 1 as “input”, by the GammaFlow [6] code. N16 is produced by the
and as “seed source” we chose the mask point field after reaction O16(n, p)N16, with a threshold energy 9.5 MeV.
the step 2. We obtain 100 representative streamlines. N16 has a T1/2=7.13 seconds and decays to O16 with
4. We apply the paraview filter “IntegrateVariables” gamma emission; principal lines are 6.13 MeV (67%) and
over the result of the step 3, “streamtracer with custom 7.12 MeV (5%). We firstly present the experimental
Source”, selecting the attribute “Cell data”. The Integrate setup; then, methodology is shown. Finally, results and
Variables filter integrates point and cell data over lines comparison with those obtained using experimental
and surfaces computing length of lines, area of surface, or values and GammaFlow are commented. The layout of
volume. After that, we can get the total length of the the experiment simulated in this section is shown in Fig.
streamlines, in this case = 721.758 m; thus, dividing this 6. 6 with FW Mock-up details given in Figures 7 and 8.
value over the number of stream lines (100) we obtain the Additional details can be found in [6].
average length of the stream lines (the length of the
particle trajectories) in the volume equal to 7.218 m.
5. We obtain the average speed of the particles in the
volume A by applying the paraview filter
“IntegrateVariables” to the velocity field obtained in the
step 1. As result, we get the average velocity for the
particles within the volume A as 0.043 m/s,
6. Finally, dividing the average length of the particle
trajectory in the volume (obtained in the step 4) by the
average velocity (obtained in the step 5) we get an
estimation of the residence time of the fluid particles in
volume A as t1i=167.860 seconds.
Regarding the second step we use the MCNP transport
code asking for a “meshtal” file as output of the
Fig. 6. Layout of the ITER first wall mock-up and coolant
simulation. The spectrum for each Φ1i is easily extracted
channel irradiated at the 14 MeV Frascati Neutron Generator
from the corresponding voxel of the meshtal file.
Once the sets {t1i} and {Φ1i} are calculated, the next
step lies in feeding ACABLoop with these data and
running the code for the prediction of activation related
responses. In our case, there are two branches, that is, two Figure 7. CAD image of the 14 MeV neutron source and water
possible paths for particles to reach the outlet from inlet pipe exposed to neutron irradiation
position. These two possible paths are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 8. Detail of water pipe irradiation (from MCNP)

Figure 5. Pathway 1 (left) and Pathway 2 (right)
In order to predict the isotopic inventory at the outlet, As it is shown in Figure 8, the water inside the mock-up
we have to add the contributions by both of the pathways. is subdivided into 64 elements of equal volume of ~5 cm3.
Each of the contributions is weighted by the portion of the To calculate the counts per second at the CsI gamma
total fluid at the inlet following the specific pathway (1 or detector because of the N16 we proceed as it follows:
2). Thus, for each of the pathways 1 and 2 we should apply - Firstly, we calculate the average neutron spectra in each
the abovementioned procedure only for those volumes of the 64 elements (made using MCNP6),
traversed by the fluid. Finally, the total isotopic inventory - Then, we calculate the N16 production per neutron
can be calculated by adding both contributions. source in each of the 64 elements (made using ACAB,
feed by previous neutron spectra, using a python script),
2.4 Benchmark ACABLoop vs GammaFlow vs
experiment: production of N16 in flowing water
- Then, we calculate the evolution of N16 content for a This section provides two examples of ACABLoop
unit volume of water (1 cm3) along the circuit (this step is application for safety issues in DEMO fusion reactor. The
calculated using ACABLoop), first one is devoted to the calculation of activation-related
- Then, Activity at the CsI expansion tank is calculated, responses after the shutdown of the machine. The second
- Finally, the counts per second at the CsI gamma detector one shows the prediction of residual photon field around
coming from N16 at the CsI expansion tank is predicted. systems filled with activated PbLi alloy.
3.1 Activation-related responses in flowing PbLi
For the first step we use MCNP6 and JEFF3.1.1 [7] library
for neutron transport. For the calculation of N16 Values of Activity and Decay Heat are here given. We use
production, we use the ACAB code and EAF2010 [8] the 7200s+500s pulse + dwell sequence repeated without
library. For the third step we use the ACABLoop code interruption for several number of cycles. Several cooling
using 64 steps and 65 nodes for irradiation phase (see times are considered; from those very short values related
Figure 2), and 1 step for cooling phase. The numbers of to possible accidental scenarios to medium term values
t11 to t1n (transit time of the flowing water for each of the related to maintenance and to long cooling times to
64 elements) has been chosen equal for each of the analyze disposal of the alloy as waste.
elements dividing the volume of each element (0.322
Irradiation Phase is divided in one step (see Figure 2); for
litres) over the mass flow. Total activity at the CsI
this only step an only flux is used (ø11) corresponding to
expansion tank is calculating by multiplying the specific
N16 concentration at the outlet of the irradiated water pipe the most exposed region in the blanket occupied by the
by: i) the CsI tank volume (183.1 cm3), ii) N16 lambda PbLi. It is here considered 10 PbLi cycles per day being
the alloy the 40% of the cycle time inside the BB and the
(0.09721559 seconds-1), iii) neutron source (normalized
remainder 60% outside. Therefore, considering a total
as 1010 neutrons/second), and iv) exp(-λ·ttransit). Finally,
time per cycle of 2.4 hours (8640 seconds), values for T1
once obtained the Activity due to N16 at the cavities (CsI
tank and inlet and outlet pipes of the CsI tank), we (irradiation Phases) and T2 (Cooling Phase) would be
simulate the emission of N16 photons and the registering 3456 seconds and 5184 seconds respectively.
at the CsI detector using the branch ratio for N16 (0.738
Results for Activity and Decay Heat after shutdown after
photons/disintegration) and the photon count rate
300 cycles (30 days) and 5400 cycles (18 months) of
obtained by MCNP transport simulation (using f8 tally).
DEMO functioning are shown in Figure 9.9 and 10. When
We compare in Error! Reference source not found.2 Tritium extraction is considered differences with no
ACABLoop prediction with values from experiments, and extraction values increases when Tritium contribution to
Activity or Decay heat is higher. The gap also increases
simulations by CCFE using GammaFlow code and by
when longer functioning times are taken into account.
ENEA [6]. The C/E value for using UNED ACABLoop
varies between 0.98 (10.3 litters/minute) and 0.89 (55.1
litters/minute). Regarding the case of 55.1 litters/minute,
the UNED ACABLooop value for C/E (0.89) is not so
satisfactory being a bit far from the prediction by ENEA
and a bit worse than the best prediction by CCFE
GammaFlow (0.91). Consensus about discrepancies with
experimental values mainly when flow rate increases
point out to the need for a more realistic simulation of the
fluid movement by feeding methodologies with CFD
data. This improvement is currently being incorporated Figure 9. Activity (Bq/cc) comparison: number of cycles and
into the ACABLoop code. Tritium extraction performance.

Table 1. Gamma count rate calculated for 16N at CsI detector

Flow rate (lit/min) C/E
10.3 55.1 10.3 55.1
Experimental 1993 948 - -
UNED ACABLoop
EAF-2007 ACAB 1944 844 0.98 0.89
CCFE GammaFlow
ENDFB7.1 MCNP6.1 1906.5 859.9 0.96 0.91
EAF2010 FISPACT-II 1847.7 833.6 0.93 0.88
ENDFB7.0 FISPACT-II 1818.3 820.2 0.91 0.87
JEFF3.2 FISPACT-II 1818.2 820.1 0.91 0.87
JENDL4 FISPACT-II 1732.1 781.4 0.87 0.82
Figure 10. Decay Heat (W/cc) comparison: number of cycles
TENDL2014 FISPACT-II 1818.3 820.1 0.91 0.87 and Tritium extraction performance.
ENEA Calculation
EAF-2007 1937 908 0.97 0.96 Some relevant conclusions are here summarized:
- Despite of the number of cycles simulated, values for
any of the activation-related responses are very similar for
3. ACABLoop application to DEMO: activation short cooling times (some seconds); this effect is due to
of PbLi alloy and residual Dose rates
major contributors at very short cooling times, which have along its route. ACABloop is specifically conceived for
very short half-lives as Pb207m. facing simulation of fluids moving in loops.
- When no Tritium extraction is considered, Activity
ACABLoop has been specifically adapted to the PbLi
keeps almost constant for long cooling times; this effect
loops of EUROfusion DEMO reactor, where tries to
is noticeable for higher number of cycles: for 5400 cycles,
consider typical features of the PbLi loops as: i) the
Activity keeps almost constant up to ~2-3 years cooling.
residence time of the fluid in the irradiated area, ii) the
- Responses increase with the number of cycles
incorporation of a given amount of corrosion products
considered being the differences higher for medium and
into the flowing fluid, iii) the extraction of materials as
long cooling times due to the activation of impurities.
Tritium recovery and impurities and ACPs, and iv) the
- Up to ~1 hour of cooling, Activity is dominated by
realistic pulse functioning (operational sequence) impact
radionuclides coming from pure PbLi, as Pb207m
on the fluid activation, among others.
(T1/2=0.84 sec) and Pb209 (T1/2=3.3 h). Beyond one
hour, Activity is dominated by radionuclides coming from Traditionally, the activation inventory generated in the
activation of impurities, as Mn54 (T1/2=312.5 days), flowing PbLi has been calculated considering a simplistic
Fe55 (T1/2=2.7 y), Co57 (T1/2=271.8 d), etc. Therefore, approach, valid only for a pre-conceptual analysis,
a relevant reduction on Activity for relevant times for additionally, the simulation of some phenomena is not
maintenance (beyond ~1 hour) can be found if reduction possible when using that simple methodology.
of impurities in the PbLi alloy is achieved by industrial ACABLoop helps to overcome such limitations
production. This effect is similar for Decay Heat. predicting more realistically the activation of the PbLi
alloy, providing all the information related to the
3.2 Photon fields around systems and components
generated isotopic inventory in the fluid as a useful
of PbLi loops
information for safety analysis.
ACABLoop also provides the photon spectra after any
number of cycles at any position. These spectra are very Acknowledgments
useful to produce dose maps as a reference for The authors would like to acknowledge the funding from
maintenance planning. Figures 11 and 12 show an the regional government of Madrid through the
example of dose rate maps in DEMO tokamak building TechnoFusión (III)-CM (S2018/EMT-4437) program, co-
because of the presence of moving activated PbLi. Values financed with Structural Funds (ERDF and ESF).
are given in Sv/h after 5 calendar years of DEMO This work has been carried out partially within the
functioning and no additional cooling time. framework of the EUROfusion Consortium, funded by
the European Union via the Euratom Research and
Training Programme (Grant Agreement No 101052200
— EUROfusion). Views and opinions expressed are
however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily
reflect those of the European Union or the European
Commission. Neither the European Union nor the
European Commission can be held responsible for them.
References
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determine PbLi activation in DEMO breeding blankets.
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(pdf), 2020
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DEMO Tokamak building Activation Code V2008’. Nuclear Energy Agency NEA
Data Bank. NEA-1839, (2008)
[3] SimFlow 4.0. https://sim-flow.com/
[4] C. J. Werner, et al., "MCNP6.2 Release Notes", Los
Alamos National Laboratory, report LA-UR-18-20808
(2018)
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4. Summary [6] C. NOBS et al., “Computational Evaluation of N-16
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Declaration of Interest Statement

Declaration of interests

☒ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships
that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

☐The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered
as potential competing interests: