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RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization
Fusion leaders at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference discussed the path forward for regulating the burgeoning fusion industry. The speakers discussed government and private industry initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom, with a focus on efforts shaping the near-term deployment of commercial fusion machines.
A recurring theme was the need to explain the difference between fission and fusion. Representatives from the Department of Energy and Type One Energy highlighted this as an important distinction for regulators, as it will allow fusion to undergo its own independent maturation process for developing standards and regulations in the same way that fission has. Lea Perlas, Fusion Program director at the Virginia Department of Health, said that confusion between fission and fusion has been a common cause for misplaced concerns among community members surrounding Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ proposed fusion plant site near Richmond, Va.
Robert J. Dowling
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 20-28
Progress in Fusion Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22841
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The U.S. Fusion Technology Development Program integrates the diverse technology activities within the Office of Fusion Energy. The program contains essentially all the technology activities, both to support the scientific efforts and to resolve a limited number of critical technology feasibility issues. There has been a significant amount of progress in the last few years in the development of reactor-scale fusion technologies. For example, in the area of gyrotron development for radio frequency (RF) heating, 28 gigahertz (GHz) gyrotrons at 200 kW continuous wave (cw) and 60 GHz gyrotrons at 124 kW cw have been operated. Present plans call for continuing development of 100 GHz gyrotrons at higher power levels. In the magnetics area, construction of the Large Coil Test Facility (LCTF) will be completed and initial operations with two coils should begin in 1983. The other four large coils should be delivered to permit full 6 coil torus testing to begin in 1984. The research and development plans for the Magnetic Fusion Energy Program are contained in the Fusion Technology Development Plan (FTDP) which is being distributed. In order to assure that the activities described in the FTDP are consistent with the overall fusion program strategy and to optimize resource allocation recognizing budget constraints, the Fusion Technology Program has prioritized its activities. This paper will review some of the recent progress and future plans in fusion technology in the U.S. Magnetic Fusion Program.