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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.
Sümer Şahi̇n, Anil Kumar
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 6 | Number 1 | July 1984 | Pages 97-108
Technical Paper | Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST84-A23124
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, an experimental fusion and fusion-fission (hybrid) reactor facility is near completion. Experiments are scheduled to begin in February 1984. The experimental cavity leads one to plan experiments mostly with blankets in plane geometry. Five different hybrid blanket modules in plane geometry are analyzed with two different left boundary conditions representing varying experimental situations. Numbers I and II represent energy and fissile fuel producing blankets, whereas number III is mainly a fissile fuel producing blanket. Numbers IV and V are actiniae burning blankets. It is shown that the overall neutronic performance, such as keff, energy multiplication factor M, fusile and fissile breeding, of a hybrid blanket with transplutonium actiniae fuel is already better than that of a UO2 or ThO2 hybrid blanket. Furthermore, the transplutonium actiniae waste is partly converted into precious nuclear fuel of a new type, such as 242mAm and 245Cm. An experimental blanket with a vacuum left boundary has a harder neutron spectrum, and also excessive neutron leakage from the front surface and the lateral surfaces, as compared to that in the blanket in confinement geometry. It leads to the poorer neutronic performance of the former.