Advancements in fusion breeding blanket development

The fusion breeding blanket will be a core component for the next generation of D-T fusion reactors. It will deliver multi functionalities including tritium self-sufficiency, high efficiency of heat extraction and neutron shielding adequacy. In the past few years, the development of the blanket has continued to include innovative concept designs, design validation against load conditions (e.g. high levels of heat flux, neutron irradiation, thermohydraulic and mechanical load), functional materials qualification, and R&D activities to improve technology readiness level and demonstrate reliability for long-term endurance. This special issue will collect recent developments on the latest proposals for blanket concepts and experimental opportunities to validate designs, for future fusion reactors based on magnetic confinement, including standard tokamaks, spherical tokamaks, stellerators, as well as inertial fusion. Besides highlighting the essential role of the breeding blanket to establish the self-sustaining tritium fuel cycle required for the D-T fusion route, the collection also opens up the work on neutron-free approaches purely for fusion energy extraction. The special issue will provide a collective overview on the options to achieve the complex integration of many challenges for such a core component on the road to developing fusion as an energy source.