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DOE announces NEPA exclusion for advanced reactors
The Department of Energy has announced that it is establishing a categorical exclusion for the application of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures to the authorization, siting, construction, operation, reauthorization, and decommissioning of advanced nuclear reactors.
According to the DOE, this significant change, which goes into effect today, “is based on the experience of DOE and other federal agencies, current technologies, regulatory requirements, and accepted industry practice.”
W. R. Meier, W. J. Hogan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 3 | April 2006 | Pages 532-541
Technical Paper | Fast Ignition | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1165
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Using a simple inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant economic model, it is demonstrated that there are several potential advantages of an IFE power plant based upon fast ignition targets compared with one based upon central ignition targets. The fast ignition version can have a lower cost of electricity (COE) at the same output power, and a smaller fast ignition plant can have the same COE as a larger central ignition plant. This paper also considers the chamber issues raised by using fast ignition targets. Some direct-drive chamber concepts must be larger for cone-focus fast ignition targets because of the increase in the X-ray output. On the other hand, the use of fast ignition hohlraum targets may allow the use of thick-liquid-wall chambers, bringing the benefits of a smaller chamber and containment building, smaller amounts of hazardous waste, and a faster and cheaper development path. However, many technology issues need resolution before these benefits can become a reality.