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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.
Lee C. Cadwallader, Cory S. Miller, Kathryn A. McCarthy
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 599-603
Safety and Environment (Poster Session) | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963679
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper discusses the possible forms of injury to maintenance personnel that could arise from a cryostat air ingress event. The results of a thermal-hydraulic analysis of several cryostat breach sizes show the time scales for possible injury and the severity of air pressure transients in the rooms near the cryostat. Energy sources were reviewed to identify worker safety concerns in a cryostat vacuum breach event. The room air pressure drop in medium and large breaches is the most important worker safety concern. Standard vacuum safety techniques are reducing time in proximity, maintaining an exclusion area, and employing some form of barrier or shielding between workers and vacuum reservoirs. Other suggested safety techniques discussed here are engineering controls (doors that can be easily opened under differential pressure), and administrative controls (buddy system, evacuation plan). These techniques are easy to implement in early design stages.