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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.
Shuhei Nogami, Wenhai Guan, Akira Hasegawa, Makoto Fukuda
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 4 | November 2017 | Pages 673-679
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1347463
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal and fatigue properties and the irradiation hardening of the potassium (K) doped tungsten (W) rods (20 mm in diameter) developed for fusion reactor divertor applications were investigated, and they were compared with the conventional hot-rolled W plates, which were previously reported. A part of the fatigue life of conventional hot-rolled W plate was newly obtained in this work. The K-doped W rod showed a few percent lower thermal conductivity than the conventional hot-rolled W plates. However, those values may meet the requirements of the ITER divertor application. The fatigue life at 500°C of the K-doped W rod was similar to the pure W plates at higher strain, whereas longer fatigue life of the K-doped W rod was observed at lower strain. The recrystallized K-doped W rod showed longer fatigue life at 500°C than the recrystallized pure W plates. The irradiation hardening level of the K-doped W rod was similar to the pure W plate after the irradiation up to 3 dpa at 500°C. Based on these evaluations of this work, the K-doped W rod in this work has similar or better properties than the conventional hot-rolled W plates under these particular test conditions though further evaluation and producing larger rods are desirable for the actual design and fabrication of the divertor.