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Fusion Science and Technology
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Getting back to yes: A local perspective on decommissioning, restart, and responsibility
For 45 years, Duane Arnold Energy Center operated in Linn County, Ia., near the town of Palo and just northwest of Cedar Rapids. The facility, owned by NextEra Energy, was the only nuclear power plant in the state.
In August 2020, a historic derecho swept across eastern Iowa with winds approaching 140 miles per hour. Damage to the plant’s cooling towers accelerated a shutdown that had already been planned, and the facility entered decommissioning soon after, with its fuel removed in October of that year. Iowa’s only nuclear plant had gone off line.
Today the national energy landscape looks very different than it did just six short years ago. Electricity demand is rising rapidly as data centers, artificial intelligence infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and electrification expand across the country. Reliable, carbon-free baseload power has become increasingly valuable. In that context, Linn County has approved the rezoning necessary to support the recommissioning and restart of Duane Arnold and is actively supporting NextEra’s efforts to secure the remaining state and federal approvals.
J. M. Blatz, P. Barrows, T. Gribb, D. M. Cech, G. Becerra, T. Kile, C. M. Jacobson, L. Jacobson, J. Giffey, R. Radel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 6 | August 2023 | Pages 617-629
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2167458
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
There is a known demand for a fusion prototypic neutron source capable of emulating the neutron-induced damage caused by fusion. If no such source is developed in a timely and economical manner, the use of fusion as a source of energy will be hindered by material selection and qualification. Presented here is one possible path toward the development of a fusion prototypic neutron source by enhancing an operational neutron generator platform with so-called plasma windows. The use of plasma windows addresses a weakness in the current design by improving the pressure differential between acceleration and the target regions. This improvement, combined with the use of multiple beamlines, represents the possibility of dramatically increasing the fusion neutron flux capabilities of such a system.