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Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Lance L. Snead, Roger A. Vesey†
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 24 | Number 1 | August 1993 | Pages 83-96
Technical Paper | Divertor System | doi.org/10.13182/FST93-A30176
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The primary concerns in the design of a divertor component are the high heat fluxes (15 to 30 MW/m2) and the surface erosion due to plasma/wall interactions, along with the associated issue of plasma contamination. A continuous belt, which would pass between two rollers inside the vacuum vessel, is proposed as the divertor surface to provide higher heat flux handling capability as well as reduced total erosion. Thermal analyses indicate that a belt passing from one roller through the divertor region to a cooling roller can achieve a cycle-to-cycle steady state while maintaining acceptable temperatures. The belt speed determines the amount of plasma energy absorbed per cycle and thus determines the maximum belt temperature and the requirements of the cooling roller. The belt material initially considered is a metal matrix/carbon fiber composite in which the carbon fibers are oriented out-of-plane in a 1-mm-thick metal belt. The carbon fibers protrude from the plasma-facing side of the belt, presenting the plasma ions a low-Z surface to impact. Because the belt surf ace passes through the entire divertor region, the erosion due to sputtering is uniform along the belt. Estimated gross erosion rates for a 7-m belt at expected International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) conditions are 5 to 10 cm/burn-yr. Electromagnetic forces and secondary magnetic fields induced by the belt motion appear manageable for a sufficiently resistive or toroidally segmented belt. In situ deposition of a sacrificial carbon layer will be required to replace eroded material. Such a belt also offers the possibility of continuous removal of the plasma-codeposited carbon and tritium layer prior to deposition of the sacrificial carbon.