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Fusion Science and Technology
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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. John Perkins, Steven A. Freije, William S. Neef
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 1407-1412
Magnet Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A23053
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The engineering design of two high-power steadystate ECRH injection systems is presented for the MARS tandem mirror reactor. With a design power of 57 MW, System I is comprised of 1 MW cavity-mode gyrotrons coupled to a novel quasioptical launching system for the combination and transmission of the ECRH power to the plasma. System II has a design power of 84 MW and comprises 2.5 MW quasi-optical gyrotron units coupled to a quasi-optical launching system similar in principle to System I but displaying minimal space requirements. Potential operating conditions, parameters and constraints are presented for multi-MW gyrotrons and quasi-optical launching systems, and key ECRH development and technology needs for commercial tandem mirror reactors are defined.
