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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
C. A. Gentile, T. Kozub, S. W. Langish, L. P. Ciebiera, A. Nobile, J. Wermer, K. Sessions
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 54 | Number 2 | August 2008 | Pages 371-374
Technical Paper | Tritium and Inertial Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST08-A1833
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual design is proposed to support the recovery of un-expended fuel, ash, and associated postdetonation products resident in plasma exhaust from a ~ 2 GW IFE direct drive power reactor. The design includes systems for the safe and efficient collection, processing, and purification of plasma exhaust fuel components. The system has been conceptually designed and sized such that tritium bred within blankets, lining the reactor target chamber, can also be collected, processed, and introduced into the fuel cycle. The system will nominally be sized to process ~ 2 kg of tritium per day and is designed to link directly to the target chamber vacuum pumping system. An effort to model the fuel recovery system (FRS) using the Aspen Plus engineering code has commenced. The system design supports processing effluent gases from the reactor directly from the exhaust of the vacuum pumping system or in batch mode, via a buffer vessel in the Receiving and Analysis System. Emphasis is on nuclear safety, reliability, and redundancy as to maximize availability. The primary goal of the fuel recovery system design is to economically recycle components of direct drive IFE fuel. The FRS design is presented as a facility sub-system in the context of supporting the larger goal of producing safe and economical IFE power.