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Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
Latest News
NRC issues draft EA/FONSI for Duane Arnold restart
Efforts by NextEra Energy to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear power plant as early as 2029 continue to move forward with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's preliminary environmental assessment and determination that the restart would have no significant environmental impacts.
On Thursday, the NRC posted a draft environmental assessment and a finding of no significant impact for the Palo, Iowa, facility; the Federal Register notice was published on Monday. The Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing is a cooperating agency on the draft EA, as the DOE is considering providing financial assistance to the restart project.
M. S. Vorenkamp, A. Nagy, A. Bortolon, R. Lunsford, R. Maingi, D. K. Mansfield, A. L. Roquemore
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 488-495
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1335144
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An impurity granule injector on the DIII-D tokamak (IGI) injects granules into the plasma to trigger Edge Localized Modes (ELMs). Impurities, such as lithium, carbon, and boron, are used. The IGI drops granules (0.3–1.0 mm diameter) from a four chamber segmented storage hopper into a down-tube. The downtube guides the granules into a spinning impeller, rotating at a maximum frequency of 170 hz. The granules’ collisions with the impeller propel the granules (maximum velocity 120 m/s) through a drift tube, through an open torus interface valve shield, and into the plasma. This device underwent substantial upgrades to improve its functionality, to minimize the device footprint, and to automate post injection analysis. Upgrades include: (1) a drop-tube positioner to account for impeller/granule collision trajectories; (2) a granule drop monitor using an LED and a photodetector in the drop-tube; (3) a photodiode based granule ablation monitor; (4) DC isolation from the DIII-D vacuum vessel; and (5) an electric motor impeller drive with an integrated rotational speed sensor. These modifications improved the operability and efficiency of the IGI, leading to the successful triggering of ELMs using gasless impurity injection. These recent upgrades are discussed in detail.