Comparison of the Cross-Section Sensitivity of the Tritium Breeding Ratio in Various Fusion-Reactor Blankets

For several proposed fusion-reactor-blanket designs, the changes in the tritium breeding ratios due to estimated errors in nuclear cross-section data are presented and compared. The designs considered are those proposed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the reference theta-pinch reactor design proposed at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, and the reference fusion power plant design proposed at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Results are presented for the changes in the breeding ratios due to estimated energy-dependent errors in various partial cross sections of ⁶Li, ⁷Li, C, Be, and F. The ⁷Li(n,n’) α,t cross section, the Be(n,2n’) cross section, and the fluorine cross sections are found to introduce changes of the order of a few percent in the breeding ratios for the various designs. Sensitivity profiles that show the changes in the breeding ratios due to changes in these cross sections in specific energy ranges are presented.