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RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization
Fusion leaders at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference discussed the path forward for regulating the burgeoning fusion industry. The speakers discussed government and private industry initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom, with a focus on efforts shaping the near-term deployment of commercial fusion machines.
A recurring theme was the need to explain the difference between fission and fusion. Representatives from the Department of Energy and Type One Energy highlighted this as an important distinction for regulators, as it will allow fusion to undergo its own independent maturation process for developing standards and regulations in the same way that fission has. Lea Perlas, Fusion Program director at the Virginia Department of Health, said that confusion between fission and fusion has been a common cause for misplaced concerns among community members surrounding Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ proposed fusion plant site near Richmond, Va.
Keisuke Matsuoka, Shoichi Okamura, Shin Nishimura, Mitsutaka Isobe, Chihiro Suzuki, Akihiro Shimizu, Nobuo Tanaka, Mitsuru Hasegawa, Hideji Naito, Kazuhiro Urata, Yutaka Suzuki, Tadanori Tsukamoto
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 46 | Number 2 | September 2004 | Pages 378-387
Technical Papers | Stellarators | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A577
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The engineering design of the quasi-axisymmetric stellarator CHS-qa is described, having a toroidal period number of 2, major radius of 1.5 m, and plasma aspect ratio of 3.2. Although the entire structure of the machine is highly nonaxisymmetric and deformative, the following major engineering concerns for the modular coils and the vacuum vessel have been resolved: (a) modular coil design (curvature and twist of conductors), (b) supporting structures for modular coils, (c) errors due to electromagnetic forces and misalignment in manufacturing processes (analysis shows that the magnetic surface is robust against such disturbances), (d) construction procedure for vacuum vessel and modular coils, and (e) ports for heating and diagnostics.
