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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
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 12 | Number 2 | September 1987 | Pages 310-319
Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST87-A11963788
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
When a blanket concept is applied to the actual reactor design, various structural changes such as material thickness, material volume fractions, etc., are made to adjust the overall design to meet lifetime and material stress requirements. After these changes, the new tritium breeding ratio (TBR) is required to be easily and quickly estimated. Hence, an analytical TBR formula was derived by separating absorption, scattering, neutron multiplication, and tritium production cross sections at high energies above the multiplication reaction threshold from those at low energies near the thermal energy. The formula was applied to three blanket types. The TBR values calculated by this formula agreed with those of an ANISN transport code within 5%.