Design Window Analysis for the Helical DEMO Reactor FFHR-d1

Conceptual design activity for the LHD-type helical DEMO reactor FFHR-d1 has been conducted at the National Institute for Fusion Science under the Fusion Engineering Research Project since FY2010. In the first step of the conceptual design process, design window analysis was conducted using the system design code HELIOSCOPE by the “Design Integration Task Group”. On the basis of a parametric scan with the core plasma design based on the DPE (Direct Profile Extrapolation) method, a design point having a major radius of 15.6 m and averaged magnetic field strength at the helical coil winding center of 4.7 T was selected as a candidate. The validity of the design was confirmed through the analysis by the related task groups (in-vessel component, blanket, and superconducting magnet)

Seismic Analysis of Magnet Systems in Helical Fusion Reactors Designed With Topology Optimization

Superconducting magnets in fusion reactors are subjected to a huge electromagnetic force of >100 MN/m. The magnets have to be sustained with a strong-body structure to avoid high stress and deformation. The total weight of the magnet system in the fusion reactor is estimated to be more than 20,000 tons. We applied topology optimization technique to the magnet support structure to reduce the weight of fusion reactors. Compared with the conventional design, we achieved a weight reduction of >25%. Static and seismic analyses were carried out to validate the soundness of the topology-optimized design. Consequently, the stress against the electromagnetic force in the structure was within the permissible range. It was discovered that using seismic isolation structure can adequately prevent the damage to the magnet system even when directly subjected to a massive earthquake

Moderation of Negative Oxygen Effects by Small Yttrium Addition to Low Activation Vanadium Alloys

In order to improve irradiation embrittlement of vanadium alloys for fusion reactors, yttrium (Y) has been added reducing the interstitial oxygen impurity. However Y addition can also degrade high-temperature strength, because Y could scavenge oxygen in solid solution, which is a strong hardening agent in vanadium alloys. In this study, the effect of Y addition and oxygen level on the mechanical properties was investigated from the view points of both the high-temperature strength and low temperature ductility. Y addition was suggested to moderate the hardening and embrittlement induced by oxygen impurity sustaining the high-temperature strength within an acceptable level

Evaluation of irradiation hardening of ion-irradiated V–4Cr–4Ti and V–4Cr–4Ti–0.15Y alloys by nanoindentation techniques

Irradiation hardening behavior of V–4Cr–4Ti and V–4Cr–4Ti–0.15Y alloys after Cu-ion beam irradiation were investigated with a combination between nanoindentation techniques and finite element method (FEM) analysis. The ion-irradiation experiments were conducted at 473 K with 2.4 MeV Cu2+ ions up to 7.6 dpa. For the unirradiated materials, the increase in nanoindentation hardness with decreasing indentation depth, so-called indentation size effect (ISE), was clearly observed. After irradiation, irradiation hardening in the measured depth was identified. Hardening behavior of bulk-equivalent hardness for V–4Cr–4Ti–0.15Y alloy was similar to that for V–4Cr–4Ti alloy. Y addition has little effect on irradiation hardening at 473 K. Adding the concept of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) to constitutive equation of V–4Cr–4Ti alloy, the ISE was simulated. A constant value of α = 0.5 was derived as an optimal value to simulate nanoindentation test for ion-irradiated V–4Cr–4Ti alloy. Adding the term of irradiation hardening Δσirrad. to constitutive equation with α = 0.5, FEM analyses for irradiated surface of V–4Cr–4Ti alloy were carried out. The analytic data of FEM analyses based on neutron-irradiation hardening equivalent to 3.0 dpa agreed with the experimental data to 0.76 dpa. The comparison indicates that irradiation hardening by heavy ion-irradiation is larger than that by neutron-irradiation at the same displacement damage level. Possible mechanisms for extra hardening by heavy ion-irradiation are the processes that the injected Cu ions could effectively produce irradiation defects such as interstitials compared with neutrons, and that higher damage rate of ion-irradiation enhanced nucleation of irradiation defects and hence increased the number density of the defects compared with neutron-irradiation

AIRE illuminates the feature of medullary thymic epithelial cells in thymic carcinoma

Despite the clear distinction between cortical (cTECs) and medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs) in physiology, the cell of origin of thymic carcinomas (TCs) and other thymic epithelial tumors remained enigmatic. We addressed this issue by focusing on AIRE, an mTEC-specific transcriptional regulator that is required for immunological self-tolerance. We found that a large proportion of TCs expressed AIRE with typical nuclear dot morphology by immunohistochemistry. AIRE expression in TCs was supported by the RNA-seq data in the TCGA-THYM database. Furthermore, our bioinformatics approach to the recent single-cell RNA-seq data on human thymi has revealed that TCs hold molecular characteristics of multiple mTEC subpopulations. In contrast, TCs lacked the gene signatures for cTECs. We propose that TCs are tumors derived from mTECs

Effect of yttrium on dynamic strain aging of vanadium alloys

In order to improve the performance of vanadium alloys for fusion reactors, yttrium (Y) was added to reduce the interstitial O in the matrix by enhanced precipitation with Y. Effect of Y on interstitial C, N and O, however, remains to be investigated since they affect mechanical and fracture properties for vanadium alloys by pinning dislocations, such as dynamic strain aging (DSA). In this study, tensile tests were carried out on annealed V–4Cr–4Ti and V–4Cr–4Ti–Y alloys from 473 to 1073 K at strain rates ranging from 6.67 × 10−5 to 6.67 × 10−1 s−1 to investigate the performance of DSA. In the case of high-purity alloys, DSA regime was narrowed due to Y addition and the reduction in O content. In the case of O doped V–4Cr–4Ti alloys, DSA regime was also narrowed. This may be because the enhanced Ti–O precipitation reduced the O level in the matrix. Also, coarse precipitates (<500 nm) were observed in O doped V–4Cr–4Ti–Y alloy. Y might enhance the coarsening of Ti-precipitates. From activation energies for DSA, the diffusion of C and O is considered to induce the observed DSA. Y does not influence the diffusion of C and O, and might enhance the nucleation to form coarse precipitates

Feasibility of Reduced Tritium Circulation in the Heliotron Reactor by Enhancing Fusion Reactivity Using ICRF

A scheme for reducing the tritium fraction in DT fusion reactors is investigated by means of enhancing the fusion reactivity using high-power ICRF heating in heliotron reactors. We assume a situation that the density fraction of tritons is less than 10%, and the minority tritons are accelerated by ICRF waves. We then analyze the increase of fusion reactivity by assuming an effective temperature of high-energy tritons and examine the possibility of realizing a fusion reactor with this concept. The required ICRF power and the generated fusion power are also estimated

Effect of coil configuration parameters on the mechanical behavior of the superconducting magnet system in the helical fusion reactor FFHR

FFHR-d1A and c1 are the conceptual design of a helical fusion reactor. The positional relationship among superconducting coils, a pair of helical coils with two sets of vertical-field coils, are observed to be similar in both type of FFHR. Such a relation of coil configuration is based on the coil configuration of the Large Helical Device, which has been designed and constructed at the National Institute for Fusion Science. There is increasing demand to achieve an optimized coil configuration to anticipate improvements in plasma-confinement conditions. In this study, the structural design of FFHR based on the fundamental set of parameters of coil configuration is depicted, which satisfies the soundness of the structure. Further, the effects of the coil configuration parameters on the stress distributions are investigated. An effect of radius of curvature on a winding scheme of the helical coil is also discussed

A Novel Antigen-Sampling Cell in the Teleost Gill Epithelium With the Potential for Direct Antigen Presentation in Mucosal Tissue

In mammals, M cells can take up antigens through mucosal surfaces of the gut and the respiratory tract. Since M cells are deficient of lysosomes and phagosomes, the antigens are directly delivered to the mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) without degradation. In teleost fish, the entire body surface (gills, skin, and intestinal system) is covered by mucus; however, specific antigen-sampling cells have not yet been identified in their mucosal tissues. Here, we show that two phenotypes of antigen-sampling cells take up antigens through epithelial surfaces of the rainbow trout gill. One phenotype of antigen-sampling cells has features of monocyte/macrophage/dendritic cell-type cells; they have large vacuoles in the cytoplasm and express PTPRC (CD45), CD83, IL-1β, and IL-12p40b. The second phenotype exhibits similar characteristics to mammalian M cells; the corresponding cells bind the lectin UEA-1 but not WGA and show expression of M cell marker gene Anxa5. In contrast to mammalian M cells, teleost M-type cells were found to exhibit small vacuoles in their cytoplasm and to express almost all genes related to the “phagosome”, “lysosome,” and “antigen processing and presentation” pathways. Furthermore, MHC class II was constitutively expressed on a fraction of M-type cells, and this expression was significantly increased after antigen uptake, suggesting that the MHC class II is inducible by antigen stimulation. Here, we suggest that teleost M-type cells play a role in the phylogenetically primitive teleost immune system, similar to bona-fide M cells. In addition, the presence of MHC class II expression suggests an additional role in antigen presentation in the gills, which are an organ with high T cell abundance, especially in interbranchial lymphoid tissue. The present results suggest an unconventional antigen presentation mechanism in the primitive mucosal immune system of teleosts, which generally lack highly organized lymphoid tissues. Moreover, the results of this work may be valuable for the development of mucosal vaccines that specifically target M-type cells; mucosal vaccines significantly reduce working costs and the stress that is usually induced by vaccination via injection of individual fish