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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.
R.J. Thome, R.D. Pillsbury, Jr., W.R. Mann
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 453-458
Blanket and First Wall Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22905
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The rapid decay of magnetic flux during a plasma disruption induces voltages, currents, and Lorentz loadings in nearby electrically-conducting material. Present designs employ toroidal shells or shell segments near the plasma. These shells are divided into sectors for assembly and maintenance considerations, but may have toroidally-continuous conducting paths due to the need for vacuum boundaries. Voltages induced across sector gaps may initiate arcing and subsequent material damage. In addition, induced eddy currents in the shells can interact with the toroidal field and generate large net torques on a sector. A finite element model was used to estimate the induced sector gap voltages and net overturning moments following a 10 ms disruption. The number of shells, toroidal continuity, resistivity, and shell thicknesses were varied. Results are presented that show the effects of these changes on the sector gap voltages and induced loads.