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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.
C.P.C. Wong, L. Barlcon, M. Corradini, P. Fogarty, N. Ghoniem, S. Majumdar, S. Malang, R. Mattas, K. McCarthy, B. Merrill, J. Murphy, B. Nelson, R. Nygren, M. Sawan, S. Sharafat, I. Sviatoslavsky, S. Zinkle
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 815-822
Chamber Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963340
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper reports the results of the second phase evaluation of the EVOLVE W-alloy first wall and blanket design cooled by vaporizing lithium. For the transpiration-cooled first wall and blanket concept, we identify the need to further quantify the data of lithium superheat from W-alloy heated surface and bulk lithium slabs. For the boiling lithium blanket, we identify the need to elucidate the impacts of magnetic field on various stable-boiling regimes. We also find that this FW/blanket concept should have no problem in achieving adequate nuclear performance. With the addition of passive cooling loops, the concept has a strong possibility of achieving the safety requirement of not needing a public evacuation plan under the loss of power accident conditions. Even though the irradiated W-alloy may be subject to embrittlement, due to the relatively low system pressure of the design, it is shown to be able to withstand a large number of cracks. The fundamental issues of W-alloy properties under high neutron fluence irradiation and the components fabrication technique remain. Preliminary investigations of W-alloy fabrication and heat flux removal through SBIR programs have begun and the initial results arc encouraging. We recommend that the investigation of critical issues of the EVOLVE concept continue since this innovative design has a good possibility of showing a way to achieve high performance and passively safe designs that are necessary for the utilization of fusion power.