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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
E. W. Sucov, F. S. Malick, L. Green
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 1084-1088
Blanket and First Wall Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A23002
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fluidized bed concept for blankets of dry or wetted first wall ICF reactors using solid lithium compounds is described. The reaction chamber is a right cylinder, 32 m high and 20 m in diameter; the blanket is composed of 36 steel tanks, 32m high, which carry the sintered Li2O particles in the fluidizing helium gas. Each tank has a radial thickness of 2 m which generates a tritium breeding ratio (TBR) of 1.27 and absorbs over 98% of the neutron energy; reducing the thickness to 1.2 m produces a TBR of 1.2 and energy absorption of 97% which satisfy the design goals. Calculations of tritium diffusion through the grains and heat removal from the grains showed that neither could be removed by the carrier gas; tritium and heat are therefore removed by removing the grains continuously. The particles are continuously fed into the bottom of the tanks at 300°C and removed at the top at 475°C. Tritium and heat extraction are easily and conveniently done outside the reactor. Compared to blanket designs which use flowing liquid metals or packed beds of solid lithium compounds, this concept is safer, simpler, cheaper, easier to maintain and less likely to break down. In addition, this concept is compatible with both wetted wall and dry wall first wall designs. Finally, deleterious thermal expansion effects due to absorption of the neutron pulse in liquid lithium or the packed bed disappear because of the decoupling of the particles in the helium stream.