Lithium Breeder Selection
Tritium is bred when neutrons are captured in lithium; the choice of lithium form and chemistry sets breeding, heat transport, and tritium recovery.
Lithium is the fuel factory
Tritium does not occur usefully in nature; the breeder makes it by capturing neutrons in lithium. A neutron absorbed by lithium-6 yields tritium and helium; lithium-7 also contributes through a different reaction. The blanket's breeder material — its lithium form and chemistry — determines how efficiently this happens and how the tritium is recovered.
Forms of lithium
Lithium can be carried as a liquid metal, a molten salt, or a solid ceramic. Each trades breeding performance, heat transport, chemical compatibility, and ease of tritium extraction. Liquid forms can double as coolant and carry tritium out continuously; solid forms simplify some chemistry but complicate recovery. The breeder studies these against its coverage and extraction needs.
- Lithium-6 capture is the dominant tritium-producing reaction.
- Breeder form sets whether it also serves as coolant.
- Chemistry sets compatibility with structural materials.
- Extraction difficulty depends directly on the chosen form.
Coupled choices
Breeder selection is not independent of enrichment, multiplier, structure, and coolant — they are one design. Choosing a liquid breeder, for instance, changes the multiplier arrangement, the structural material's corrosion requirement, and the tritium-extraction scheme. The blanket is designed as a coupled whole.
Compatibility with structure
Whichever lithium form is chosen must be chemically compatible with the structural steel and any coatings at operating temperature, because corrosion both degrades the structure and mobilizes material into the coolant. Compatibility often narrows the practical breeder choices as much as breeding performance does, coupling the breeder selection to the structural-material decision.
This page documents a design and simulation study, not a built machine. Construction begins Q2 2027; first-of-a-kind first tritium is targeted near 2030. Figures are computed, reproducible targets, not measurements.