Experimental Activities with the IELLLO Lithium-Lead Facility

Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations. Although this may be true, it also presents so far serious scientific and engineering challenges. Breeding Blanket is one of key components of future fusion reactors, since it directly involves tritium breeding and energy extraction, both of them critical to development of fusion power. To deal with the development of Breeding Blankets, ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development) designed and built a lead lithium loop (IELLLO: Integrated European Lead Lithium LOop): the experiment aims to support R&D activities for the conceptual and preliminary design of the European test blanket systems. IELLLO was completed, installed and operated at ENEA Brasimone Research Centre. The purpose of this work is to describe the experimental activities that have been carried out concerning the qualification of the facility, and relative instrumentations, for lead lithium applications.