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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.
C. R. Walthers, E. M. Jenkins, C. Mayaux, W. Obert, Yuji Naruse
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | March 1992 | Pages 883-885
Material; Storage and Processing | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29861
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The possibility that tritium might exchange with water trapped in aluminum anodize cryopanels in JET prompted a test program at the Tritium Systems Test Assembly, TSTA, Los Alamos, New Mexico. JET furnished two test pieces of cryopanel which were exposed to tritium at approximately liquid nitrogen temperature and 25 torr pressure for nearly two weeks. One specimen was removed and the retained tritium was measured. The second specimen was subjected to several increasing temperature vacuum bakeouts and the effectiveness of the bakeouts were inferred from the pressure history of the chamber. When the retained tritium in the second specimen was measured, it was found that nearly 95% of the tritium, as measured in the first specimen, had been removed during the vacuum bakeouts. If the tritium retained in the cryopanel without bakeout were scaled to JET conditions according to a linear pressure-time relationship, the tritium expected to become trapped in the JET cryopanels would be approximately 0.6 gram. Testing is currently underway at TSTA which will determine the tritium retention to be expected under more realistic JET operating conditions and which will assess the effectiveness of various bake or purge schemes in removing the trapped tritium.