A recycling process on vanadium beryllium intermetallic compounds as advanced neutron multipliers for DEMO fusion applications

Beryllium intermetallic compounds (beryllides) are known as promising materials for advanced neutron multipliers for fusion applications owing to their high stability and low swelling. Because a large amount of beryllium is used for each solid breeding blanket in fusion reactors, the development of effective and efficient recycling processes is essential. In this study, a proper recycling process of Be12V pebbles was proposed, which combines a plasma sintering and a rotating electrode method for the fabrication of beryllide pebbles. As a result of experiments, it is determined that the rotating electrode method is available to reduce oxygen impurities, whereas the plasma sintering process can eliminate Li impurities and hydrogen isotope depending on sintering temperature. Regarding the recycling process, the beryllide pebbles used can be recycled into rods by plasma sintering, in which Li impurity and tritium can be eliminated. Then, recycled rods can be granulated by the rotating electrode method. During this process, it is anticipated that oxygen impurities and irradiation defects can be eliminated because the rotating electrode method includes the melting process. Thus, the current process was determined to be appropriate as a recycling process for beryllide pebbles.