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The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
R. W. Bussard, N. A. Krall
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 26 | Number 4 | December 1994 | Pages 1326-1336
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST94-A30317
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Performance scaling of fusion power sources shows that Maxwellian, magnetic, local-thermodynamic-equilibrium (MM/LTE) devices require much larger sizes and B fields than do electron-driven, inertial-electrostatic-confinement (EXL/IEC) systems for the same output. Basic economics analyses show that systems of either type must be small in size to be economically viable. This requires operation at high fusion power density and first-wall thermal fluxes; flux levels needed are well within those of practical power engineering experience. The EXL/IEC systems can satisfy these demands more readily than can MM/LTE systems. They can be operated to avoid particle thermalization, preserve ion core convergence, and yield a large power gain against losses (e.g., bremsstrahlung) for all fuels from deuterium-tritium to p-11B and 3He3He. Direct conversion of charged-particle energy, without arcing, is inherently straightforward in the quasispherical field geometry. If losses prove to be governed by classical physics phenomena rather than turbulent transport, all research and development (R&D) from physics studies to power plants can be done at a single size (≈3-m radius) and B field (≈1.2 T, 12 kG); no scaling growth in size or field is required. Consequent R&D costs and time scales are estimated to be <12 years and $1 billion for development of prototype EXL/IEC fusion power systems. Research investment seems warranted in this small-scale alternative to large-scale MM/LTE systems.