Fuel Cycle Development Platform & Industry
This research field includes all development activities as well as the necessary infrastructure for developing and testing the processes and components of the fuel cycle of a fusion reactor. In addition to the vacuum pumps (such as metal foil and mercury diffusion pumps), pellet injectors and mercury-based processes for the enrichment of lithium-6 are also to be developed, tested and optimized.
The production and characterization of vacuum components require the investigation of materials and methods in a vacuum. In addition to the release of gas in a vacuum, changes to the surface or the generation of gases through mechanical processes are also the subject of the investigations.
Our expertise
- Testing of components for vacuum generation
- Characterization of components and materials in a vacuum
- Implementation of mercury-based processes
Long-term projects
- Optimization of linear mercury diffusion and metal foil pumps
- Experiments in the field of hydrogen and lithium isotope separation
Research infrastructure
- Development platform DIPAK for the complete characterization of a fuel cycle or components of the fuel cycle (up to a scale of 1:1; under construction)
- Jason system for testing pellet injectors
- HgLab Karlsruhe
- OMA system for measuring the outgassing of materials in a vacuum