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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.
M. Wykes
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 48 | Number 1 | July-August 2005 | Pages 39-42
Technical Paper | Tritium Science and Technology - Tritium Processing, Transportation, and Storage | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A875
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The tritium inventory of all the ITER torus cryopumps open to the vacuum vessel has an administrative limit of 120 g, including tritium bound to hydrocarbon compounds formed by combination of fuel gas with carbon plasma-facing components. The total hydrogenic inventory of each of the torus cryopumps has to be less than that resulting in a deflagration pressure of 0.2 MPa (the design pressure of the ITER vacuum vessel of which the torus and neutral beam cryopump pressure boundaries are a part) following a hydrogen-air ignition. Since the neutral beamline fuelling is with protium and deuterium only, these pumps do not significantly contribute to the 120 g tritium limit. The hydrogenic inventories of both the torus and neutral beam cryopumps add to the total for the vacuum vessel following an in-vessel ingress of coolant from a failed water-cooled component, wherein hydrogen is produced from steam reacting with hot metallic dust. There is therefore a large incentive to keep the peak inventories of both the torus and neutral beamline cryopumps as low as practicable. The paper describes the regeneration patterns of the torus and neutral beamline cryopumps that are used to attain this goal while achieving the required vacuum conditions commensurate with the reference ITER pulse scenarios.