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Proposed FY 2027 DOE, NRC budgets ask for less
The White House is requesting $1.5 billion for the Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy in the fiscal year 2027 budget proposal, about 9 percent less than the previous year.
The request from the Trump administration is one of several associated with nuclear energy in the proposal, which was released Friday. Congress still must review and vote on the budget.
R. F. Bourque
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | March 1989 | Pages 1270-1274
Commercial Reactors, Economics and Power Conversion | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A39864
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Cascade is an ICF reactor concept with a flowing ceramic granule blanket operating at high temperatures (≤ 1600K). For electical power conversion, we examined three options: (1) conventional Rankine cycle using steam, (2) closed cycle Brayton helium gas turbine, and (3) the Field cycle, which is a hybrid Brayton/Rankine cycle using steam. We found the Brayton cycle to be the most suitable choice. The reference cycle chosen has a peak turbine nozzle inlet temperature of 1300K and a net efficiency of 54.8%. Reheats are an unnecessary complication which, in this case, do not increase efficiency. On the other hand, intercoolers between compressor stages are beneficial. Most of the components can be heat-resisting metal alloy, with ceramics needed only in a limited number of high temperature components. The Field cycle has both elements of the Rankine and Brayton, performance is somewhere in between, and steam pressures are lower than Rankine. Temperatures are high, but low enough to use heat resisting alloys everywhere. It is discussed here because it may be of value in reactors with gas-cooled blankets.