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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.
L. G. Miller, J. M. Beeston, P. Y. Hsu, B. L. Harris
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 427-432
Materials Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22901
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The lifetime of hollow beryllium pebbles in a hybrid fusion blanket was estimated using the existing radiation damage data base. The ductility of the irradiated beryllium at 400 to 500°C was estimated as ∼3%, and the loading stresses produced a strain of <0.3%. The failure analysis was based on the maximum stress theory. The principal stresses calculated were thermal and swelling. The estimated lifetimes for beryllium pebbles were <2 yr for those near the first wall of the blanket, >2 yr for those near the center, and >9 yr for those near the back wall. An overall average lifetime of 2.6 yr was calculated for the hollow beryllium pebbles. The snap-ring fuel form, not considered in this analysis, is expected to give longer beryllium lifetimes, provided stress concentration effects are not present.