Shielding options for the ITER conceptual design

Several shield options were analyzed for the ITER conceptual design to minimize the nuclear responses in the toroidal field (TF) coils. The total nuclear heating in the physics phase and the insulator dose in the technology phase are the most critical parameters in the design process. The first shield option has type 316 stainless steel and water shielding material. Steel and water also serve as structural material and coolant, respectively. The second option is similar to the first except that borated water is used instead of ordinary water. The other two options include a small layer of lead or boron carbide (B{sub 4}C) at the back of the shield. The last three shield options were considered to reduce the nuclear heating in the toroidal field coils relative to the steel/water shield. An optimization process was performed taking into consideration the thermal-hydraulics and the engineering requirements to define the shield configuration. A careful integration was performed to calculate the total nuclear heating in the toroidal field coils which account for the neutron wall loading distribution, the change in the shield thickness in the poloidal direction, and the space between the toroidal field coils in the divertor zone. The results show that the steel/water/Pb and the steel/borated-water shield options are very close in terms of the total nuclear heating in the toroidal field coils and the dose in the insulator material. The other two options, steel/water and steel/water/B{sub 4}C deposit more nuclear heating in the toroidal field coils. 5 refs., 3 figs., 5 tabs