Tritium production and processing systems for ST-E1
5 affiliations
- 1Tokamak Energy Ltd
- 2Idaho National Laboratory (INL)
- 3The Pennsylvania State University
- 4Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL)
- 5Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Abstract
An integrated tritium fuel-cycle architecture has been developed for ST-E1, a low-aspect-ratio, high-power fusion power plant. The approach couples a helium-cooled liquid-lithium breeder blanket with a dedicated circulation loop providing tritium extraction, heat removal, and inventory control within a unified system boundary. Downstream of the blanket, the tritium processing system comprises of extraction, purification, isotope separation, and storage subsystems sized to accommodate the plant’s dynamic tritium production and consumption rates. Inventory modelling is used to assess candidate extraction schemes, evaluate tritium residence and holdup, and quantify sensitivities associated with protium control and intermediate inventories. The integrated assessment indicates that the combined blanket-processing architecture can satisfy startup and steady-state tritium requirements within credible operating margins, with a low overall inventory and acceptable doubling time. The results identify tritium extraction sensitivity and fuelling efficiency as the dominant drivers of inventory performance, rather than marginal improvements in breeding ratio. Overall, the analysis demonstrates the feasibility of a self-consistent fuel cycle for ST-E1 and highlights the critical dependencies between blanket inventory management, processing throughput, and overall plant performance.
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BibTeX
@article{yıldırım2026tritium,
title = {{Tritium production and processing systems for ST-E1}},
author = {Emrah Yıldırım and Jonathan David Naish and J. Trueba and Samara M. Levine and Abhishek Kumar and V. Godhani and Mohamed Khalid Elsharif Mohamed and Anatoliy Vorobev and Lin Yang and Pierre-Clément A. Simon and Alex D Somers and Collin R. Malone and Holly B. Flynn and P. Arron Rowell and Terrence L. Stahl and George K. Larsen and R. Barnett and L. R. Baylor and T. E. Gebhart and Nirajan Adhikari},
journal = {Nuclear Fusion},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1088/1741-4326/ae773a},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ae773a},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tritium production and processing systems for ST-E1
AU - Emrah Yıldırım
AU - Jonathan David Naish
AU - J. Trueba
AU - Samara M. Levine
AU - Abhishek Kumar
AU - V. Godhani
AU - Mohamed Khalid Elsharif Mohamed
AU - Anatoliy Vorobev
AU - Lin Yang
AU - Pierre-Clément A. Simon
AU - Alex D Somers
AU - Collin R. Malone
AU - Holly B. Flynn
AU - P. Arron Rowell
AU - Terrence L. Stahl
AU - George K. Larsen
AU - R. Barnett
AU - L. R. Baylor
AU - T. E. Gebhart
AU - Nirajan Adhikari
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/10
JO - Nuclear Fusion
DO - 10.1088/1741-4326/ae773a
UR - https://doi.org/10.1088/1741-4326/ae773a
AB - An integrated tritium fuel-cycle architecture has been developed for ST-E1, a low-aspect-ratio, high-power fusion power plant. The approach couples a helium-cooled liquid-lithium breeder blanket with a dedicated circulation loop providing tritium extraction, heat removal, and inventory control within a unified system boundary. Downstream of the blanket, the tritium processing system comprises of extraction, purification, isotope separation, and storage subsystems sized to accommodate the plant’s dynamic tritium production and consumption rates. Inventory modelling is used to assess candidate extraction schemes, evaluate tritium residence and holdup, and quantify sensitivities associated with protium control and intermediate inventories. The integrated assessment indicates that the combined blanket-processing architecture can satisfy startup and steady-state tritium requirements within credible operating margins, with a low overall inventory and acceptable doubling time. The results identify tritium extraction sensitivity and fuelling efficiency as the dominant drivers of inventory performance, rather than marginal improvements in breeding ratio. Overall, the analysis demonstrates the feasibility of a self-consistent fuel cycle for ST-E1 and highlights the critical dependencies between blanket inventory management, processing throughput, and overall plant performance.
SN - 0029-5515
SN - 1741-4326
ER -