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DOE announces NEPA exclusion for advanced reactors
The Department of Energy has announced that it is establishing a categorical exclusion for the application of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures to the authorization, siting, construction, operation, reauthorization, and decommissioning of advanced nuclear reactors.
According to the DOE, this significant change, which goes into effect today, “is based on the experience of DOE and other federal agencies, current technologies, regulatory requirements, and accepted industry practice.”
J.K. Garner, C.F. Carson, J.D. Gordon, R.H. Whitley
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | November 1986 | Pages 615-618
Blanket Design and Evaluation | Proceedings of the Seveth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Reno, Nevada, June 15–19, 1986) | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24811
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper describes a concept for a high performance, inherently safe fusion reactor blanket using helium coolant, beryllium multiplier, lithium breeder and a vanadium alloy structure. The goals of the design were to explore the possibility of inherent tolerance to loss of coolant and flow accidents while minimizing the cost of electricity. Results indicate high net thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency (45.5%), good energy multiplication (1.64) and excellent afterheat tolerance, with a maximum blanket temperature of 760°C after one year with no cooling. However, the calculated COE (0.0405$/kWe.h) is slightly higher than other blankets costed on a similar basis by the MINIMARS1 program because of the projected high cost of vanadium.