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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Deep geologic repository progress—2025 Update
Editor's note: This article has was originally published in November 2023. It has been updated with new information as of June 2025.
Outside my office, there is a display case filled with rock samples from all over the world. It contains a disk of translucent, orange salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.; a core of white-and-bronze gneiss from the site of the future deep geologic repository in Eurajoki, Finland; several angular chunks of fine-grained, gray claystone from the underground research laboratory at Bure, France; and a piece of coarse-grained granite from the underground research tunnel in Daejeon, South Korea.
William Searight, Leigh Winfrey
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 7 | November 2021 | Pages 865-874
Student Paper Competition Selection | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1913373
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
One of the most pressing issues in the commercial development of fusion energy is the design and testing of high-temperature materials that can withstand high heat and particle fluxes while maintaining desirable structural and material performance. This challenge is also present in advanced fission reactor and nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system development, and experimental data generated from common material candidates provide novel cross-disciplinary validation and verification of model development. To this end, a hot hydrogen test loop capable of producing circulating hydrogen at temperatures up to 1200°C is being designed and constructed at The Pennsylvania State University, with the immediate intent to study the effects of hydrogen exposure on NTP component materials. These materials can include metals, ceramics, and any materials combination of interest. This work details the preliminary design work behind the current loop design, demonstrating effective operation at the current temperature requirement, and will inform higher-temperature designs where plasma effects become more significant.