Advanced Ceramic Pebbles for Fusion Breeder Blankets

Reactive Innovations, LLC RIL) proposes to develop a new ceramic pebble material composition, with high thermal conductivity, for use in nuclear fusion breeder blankets. The Phase I effort will be used to develop processes for optimizing the base powder and forming high density ceramic pebbles from the proposed material. The Phase I will further be used to characterize the pebbles for size, shape, morphology, density, porosity, crush strength, purity, effective thermal conductivity, and neutronic performance. The proposed material is expected to lead to improved blanket thermal control, the possibility for more efficient blanket designs, and an improved tritium breeding ratio. The Phase II effort will scale the process, further optimize the material properties, examine heat transfer under various gas flow and mechanical stress conditions, examine tritium release and irradiation effects, and produce a manufacturing cost model. The primary application will be for use in nuclear fusion breeder blankets. Other applications for the technology are seen in the chemical catalyst industry, in particular, for the oxidative coupling of methane to higher-valued products.