Conceptual design and analysis of the HCCR breeder blanket for the K-DEMO

•A conceptual HCCR breeder blanket design was suggested for 2200 MWf of the K-DEMO.•A graphite reflector resulted in 33 % reduction of the total Be multiplier volume.•During 45 EFPYs, the temperatures of blanket materials satisfy design limits.•The TBR at 0 EFPY is 1.172, and it degrades to 1.15 after 20 EFPYs of operation.•The life-time of the blanket was estimated as 2.3 EFPYs based on estimated FW DPA. A helium-cooled ceramic reflector (HCCR) blanket was studied as a candidate breeder blanket for the Korean DEMO reactor. A detailed three-dimensional neutronics model based on a K-DEMO model and a simplified thermal-hydraulic model were established for the HCCR-DEMO blanket conceptual design analysis. The insertion of a graphite reflector resulted in more than 33 % reduction of the required total beryllium multiplier volume, while its influence on the tritium breeding ratio (TBR) was evaluated to be less than 2 %. The final overall TBR of the HCCR-DEMO blanket was estimated as being more than 1.15 even after operation of 20 effective full power years (EFPYs) without replacement.