Status of maturation of critical technologies and systems design: Breeding blanket

The scope of the EUFOfusion Work Package Breeding Blanket is to develop a blanket concept for the EU DEMO reactor; this includes the blanket segments inside the Vacuum Vessel and the related Tritium Extraction/Removal Systems. In the Pre-Concept Design (PCD) Phase, two concepts have been selected as candidates; a solid and a liquid breeder blanket cooled with helium and water, respectively. The design of these two blanket systems has been adapted to the DEMO plant design developed in the PCD Phase and performances assessed. A large R&D programme has been implemented with the scope to evaluate different technologies for these blankets; including the development of breeders, tritium extraction and cooling technologies, and the manufacturing of the blanket system. A major milestone in the subsequent Concept Design Phase is the final selection of the blanket concept for DEMO.