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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.
Shigeo Numata, Yasuhiko Fujii, Makoto Okamoto
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 466-472
Technical Paper | Safety Environmental Aspect | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29387
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Cleanup of tritiated water in typical reactor-size concrete enclosures is simulated taking into account the soaking of the tritiated water into the concrete. For an enclosure made of concrete with ordinary porosity, the “soaking effect” has little effect on the cleanup time for releases with tritium concentrations of <1 × 108 Bq/m3. If the concrete porosity is reduced to 0.03, the soaking effect has little effect on the cleanup time for a tritium concentration of up to 1 × 109 Bq/m3. An optimum flow rate of between 1 × 104 and 1.5 × 104 m3/h for the tritium removal system minimizes the costs of removal system equipment and facility downtime for releases with a concentration >5 × 108 Bq/m3 in a typical reactor-size enclosure. Estimated total costs to complete the cleanup within 48 and 72 h with these flow rates are within 1.3 times of the minimum total costs. The estimated total costs for a cleanup time of 48 h are comparable to those for a cleanup time of 72 h.