RELAP5-based thermal-hydraulic assessment of the STEAM facility for DEMO WCLL balance of plant analysis

DEMO power station aims to demonstrate the generation of hundred MWs of electrical power from fusion reactions, then transmitted from the Tokamak reactor to the grid through the Balance of Plant (BoP). The design approach for the Water Cooled Lithium Lead (WCLL) Breeding Blanket (BB) Primary Heat Transfer Systems (PHTSs) leverages nuclear industry expertise but faces challenges due to DEMO pulsed operation and low-load periods. To assess the feasibility of these components, ENEA Experimental Engineering Division at Brasimone R.C. is designing STEAM, a facility investigating water technologies applied to the DEMO BB and BoP systems and components. STEAM is mainly composed of a primary system reproducing the DEMO WCLL BB PHTS thermodynamic conditions (15.5 MPa, 328–295 °C) and a secondary two-phase (liquid/steam) loop reproducing the DEMO power conversion system conditions (6.4 MPa, 238–300 °C). Experimental validation will reproduce steady-state and transient operation under DEMO-relevant conditions, including dedicated tests on the DEMO once through steam generator mock-up. STEAM objectives and description are presented in this paper, together with the RELAP5/Mod3.3 nodalization of the facility. The latter is used to, thermal-hydraulically characterize the facility behaviour. The outcomes of the steady-state qualification supported the optimization of the system layout appraising the performances of key components under the specified operating conditions.