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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.
G. Gibson, D. A. Sink, L. Green
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 1037-1042
Next-Generation Devices | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22995
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Three pathways to commercial fusion based on a tokamak driver have been developed and analyzed. These pathways are identified as 1) the fusion electric, 2) the fusion-fission hybrid, and 3) the integrated electric hybrid pathways. The analyses of the various pathways show significant differences in technology requirements. In developing these pathways special emphasis has been placed on the next device in the hybrid pathway which would follow TFTR. As part of this study a first version of the Fusion Technology Capabilities Compendium has been assembled. The compendium includes the driver, blanket, and fuel cycle technologies and it provided background information which has been used to identify critical R&D needs for a 1990's hybrid device.