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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.
Y. Gohar, M. Billone, H. Attaya, M. Sawan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 1457-1462
ITER | Proceedings of the Ninth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Oak Brook, Illinois, October 7-11, 1990) | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29546
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The U.S. Solid Breeder Blanket is designed to produce the necessary tritium required for the ITER operation and to operate at power reactor conditions as much as possible. Safety, low tritium inventory, reliability, flexibility cost, and minimum R&D requirements are the other design criteria. To satisfy these criteria, the produced tritium is recovered continuously during operation and the blanket coolant operates at low pressure. Beryllium multiplier material is used to control the solid-breeder temperature. Neutronics and thermal design analyses were performed in an integrated manner to define the blanket configuration. The reference parameters of ITER including the operating scenarios, the neutron wall loading distribution and the copper stabilizer are included in the design analyses. Several analyses were performed to study the impact of the reactor parameters, blanket dimensions, material characteristics, and heat transfer coefficient at the material interfaces on the blanket performance. The design analyses and the results from the different studies are summarized.