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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.
Eric J. Pitcher, Yuri K. Batygin, Charles T. Kelsey, IV, Stuart A. Maloy, Eric R. Olivas, Keith A. Woloshun
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 8 | November 2023 | Pages 952-960
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2182641
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A high-power neutron-producing spallation source is one option for meeting the mission of a fusion prototypic neutron source (FPNS). The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center at Los Alamos National Laboratory is uniquely suited to host such a source. A target concept has been developed that satisfies the initial goals established for an FPNS, as has a beam transport design that satisfies beam-on-target requirements for the concept. We discuss the potential impact of pulsed beam operation on radiation-induced changes in microstructure, as well as the ingrowth of calcium in steel alloys at a rate well beyond that expected in a fusion reactor first wall. A preliminary thermomechanical assessment shows the need to modify the target design to reduce temperatures and stresses in the tungsten target.