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WIPP: Lessons in transportation safety
As part of a future consent-based approach by the federal government to site new deep geologic repositories for nuclear waste, local communities and states that are considering hosting such facilities are sure to have many questions. Currently, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico is the only example of such a repository in operation, and it offers the opportunity for state and local officials to visit and judge for themselves the risks and benefits of hosting a similar facility. But its history can also provide lessons for these officials, particularly the political process leading up to the opening of WIPP, the safety of WIPP operations and transportation of waste from generator facilities to the site, and the economic impacts the project has had on the local area of Carlsbad, as well as the rest of the state of New Mexico.
N. A. Uckan, J. Wesley, D. Boucher, J. Galambos, F. Perkins, D. Post, S. Putvinski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 579-585
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963001
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Physics design guidelines, plasma performance estimates, and sensitivity of performance to changes in physics assumptions are presented for the ITER-EDA Interim Design. The overall ITER device parameters have been derived from the performance goals using physics guidelines based on the physics R&D results. The ITER-EDA design has a single-null divertor configuration (divertor at the bottom) with a nominal plasma current of 21 MA, magnetic field of 5.68 T, major and minor radius of 8.14 m and 2.8 m, and a plasma elongation (at the 95% flux surface) of ~1.6 that produces a nominal fusion power of ~ 1.5 GW for an ignited burn pulse length of ≥1000 s. The assessments have shown that ignition at 1.5 GW of fusion power can be sustained in ITER for 1000 s given present extrapolations of H-mode confinement (τE = 0.85 × τITER93H). helium exhaust (τ*He/τE = 10). representative plasma impurities (nBe/ne = 2%), and beta limit [βN = β(%)/(I/aB) ≤ 2.5]. The provision of 100 MW of auxiliary power, necessary to access to H-mode during the approach to ignition, provides for the possibility of driven burn operations at Q = 15. This enables ITER to fulfill its mission of fusion power (~ 1-1.5 GW) and fluence (~1 MWa/m2) goals if confinement, impurity levels, or operational (density, beta) limits prove to be less favorable than present projections. The power threshold for H-L transition, confinement uncertainties, and operational limits (Greenwald density limit and beta limit) are potential performance limiting issues. Improvement of the helium exhaust (τ*He/τE ≤ 5) and potential operation in reverse-shear mode significantly improve ITER performance.