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In transition: Commercializing fusion power
Commercial fusion power is closer than ever. There are now around 30 U.S. fusion companies, several of which claim to be on track to connect to the grid as early as the 2030s.
Tokamak and laser inertial confinement approaches benefit from decades of research at facilities such as the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and ITER, with alternative concepts including stellarator, magnetic mirror, and Z-pinch confinement also making notable progress as private and government funding for fusion increases.
R. L. Macklin, J. Halperin
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 64 | Number 4 | December 1977 | Pages 849-858
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE77-A14500
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron capture by isotopically purified 232Th was measured at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator. The pulse-height weighting method was used with small liquid scintillators to measure the prompt gamma-ray energy release following neutron capture. Resonance parameters were derived up to 10 keV. The average radiative width was (19.8 ± 0.2 statistical ± 0.4 systematic) meV for 50 resonances in the 2.6- to 4.0-keV interval. Strength functions 104S0 = 0.365 ± 0.024, 104 S1 = 1.078 ± 0.057, 104S2 > 0.842 ± 0.084, and y/D0 = 0.0198/(13.24 ± 0.71) were found to fit the average cross section well (to 105 keV) when allowance was made for p-wave inelastic competition above the ∼50-keV threshold. While the values stated gave the best fit (from 2.6 to 105 keV) when all four were allowed to vary, it is likely that “acceptable” fits could be forced for other values. Recent evaluations of the cross section range from 8 to 50% higher than results reported here.