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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.R. Peterson, E.G. Lovell, R.L. Engelstad, G.L. Kulcinski, G.A. Moses, K.J. Lee
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 872-877
Inertial Confinement Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22970
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The choice of material for the first wall of the Light Ion Beam Target Development Facility is discussed. Materials considered are Al 6061, Al 5086, 304 stainless steel, HT-9 (ferritic steel), Ti-6A1-4V, Cu-Be C17200, and Cu-Be C17600. The thermal response, mechanical response and induced radioactivity in first walls made of each of these materials are calculated. Minimum thicknesses of these walls are determined and cost estimates are made for the material requirements for each wall. Finally Al 6061 is suggested as the best choice of first wall material.