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Playing the “bad guy” to enhance next-generation safety
Sometimes, cops and robbers is more than just a kid’s game. At the Department of Energy’s national laboratories, researchers are channeling their inner saboteurs to discover vulnerabilities in next-generation nuclear reactors, making sure that they’re as safe as possible before they’re even constructed.
Zachary S. Hartwig, Massimo Zucchetti
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 60 | Number 2 | August 2011 | Pages 725-729
Nuclear Analysis & Experiments | Proceedings of the Nineteenth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE) (Part 2) | doi.org/10.13182/FST11-A12471
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A critical aspect of the design of a tokamak-based neutron source is to ensure that radiation limits of the structural and magnet-insulating materials are not approached during the lifetime of the tokamak. To this end, we present an exploratory neutronics study of a materials testing facility that is based on Ignitor, a high-field tokamak. It shown that sufficient radiation damage to test materials located in the Ignitor first wall can be obtained by sustaining a reaction rate of 3.33×1019 neutrons per second for 7 operational months. Solutions to mitigate terminal damage to the toroidal field coil insulators, including its substitution for modern radiation-resistant insulators and the use of advanced radiation shield materials, are explored, and their implication for the design of the facility is discussed.