Utility Evaluation of the DT Starfire and DD Wildcat Reactors

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) has recently completed an assessment of the Wildcat d-d cycle and Starfire d-t cycle tokamak reactor designs. The purpose of the study was to assess the relative advantages of a d-d cycle reactor for the utility user. These potential advantages relate primarily to safety, siting, and licensing impacts. This paper will discuss the overall findings of the assessment. The assessment was performed utilizing existing regulations and judgement based on past experiences of the power generating industry, rather than on “ease of licensing” numerical formulas, since such formulas do not exist. The conclusions represent the input of a group of PSE&G people experienced in power plant siting and licensing, and are intended to provide utility feedback to the fusion engineering community. In the early part of the work the methodology to be used for making the assessment was developed. The key parts of the methodology will be described. The results of the assessment show that the siting, licensing, and safety differences between Starfire and Wildcat are more quantitative than qualitative. The specific Wildcat and Starfire design parameters impacting the siting, licensing, and safety areas, are identified with conclusions and recommendations given.