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Nuclear Installations Safety
Devoted specifically to the safety of nuclear installations and the health and safety of the public, this division seeks a better understanding of the role of safety in the design, construction and operation of nuclear installation facilities. The division also promotes engineering and scientific technology advancement associated with the safety of such facilities.
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Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
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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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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Taking shape: Fusion energy ecosystems built with public-private partnerships
It’s possible to describe fusion in simple terms: heat and squeeze small atoms to get abundant clean energy. But there’s nothing simple about getting fusion ready for the grid.
Private developers, national lab and university researchers, suppliers, and end users working toward that goal are developing a range of complex technologies to reach fusion temperatures and pressures, confounded by science and technology gaps linked to plasma behavior; materials, diagnostics, and electronics for extreme environments; fuel cycle sustainability; and economics.
D. A. Humphreys
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 59 | Number 3 | April 2011 | Pages 619-620
Appendix A | Fourth ITER International Summer School (IISS2010) / Extended Abstracts | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A11703
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An attractive power plant candidate must provide power >70% of the time in a given operational year, typically implying that the frequency of key component failures resulting in unplanned loss of plant availability must be reduced to <0.001/yr. Present fusion devices typically have little motivation to operate with such high reliability and allow relatively frequent instability-driven plasma-terminating events known as disruptions. The vision of an operational fusion reactor therefore includes a level of reliable control performance and confidence well beyond that of presently operating devices. Maximizing use of the limited number of discharges planned for ITER also implies a major advance in control reliability. Fortunately, the mature field of control theory offers methods that routinely provide such levels of performance in many fields from aerospace to process control. [first paragraph from extended abstract]