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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.
Koichi Maki, Satoshi Satoh, Hideyuki Takatsu, Yasushi Seki
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 27 | Number 2 | March 1995 | Pages 176-182
Technical Paper | Special Section: Pulsed High-Density Systems / Maintenance | doi.org/10.13182/FST95-A30374
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
According to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) conceptual design activity, after reactor shutdown, damaged segments are pulled up from the reactor and hung from the reactor room ceiling by a remote handling device. The dose rate in the reactor room and the environment is estimated for this situation, and the following results are obtained: First, the dose rate in the room is >108 µSv/h. Since this dose rate is 107 times greater than the biological radiation shielding design limit of 25 µSv/h, workers cannot enter the room. Second, lenses and optical fiber composed of glass that is radiation resistant up to 106 Gy would be damaged after <100 h near the segment, and devices using semiconductors could not work after several hours or so in the aforementioned dose-rate conditions. Third, during suspension of one blanket segment from the ceiling, the dose rate in the site boundary can be reduced by one order by a 23-cm-thicker reactor building roof. To reduce dose rate in public exposure to a value that is less than one-tenth of the public exposure radiation shielding design limit of 100 µSv/yr, the distance of the site boundary from the reactor must be greater than 200 m for a reactor building with a 160-cm-thick concrete roof.