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Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Yigal Ronen, Samuel Carmona
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 74 | Number 2 | May 1980 | Pages 84-94
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE80-A19625
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Water breeder reactors based on thermal water reactors have the advantages of a well-proven technology, a wide operational experience, and an acceptable safety status, the latter from using water as a coolant and having a negative void coefficient. Water breeder reactors are now in operation for the 232Th-233U cycle and are being designed for the 238U-Pu cycle. This paper proposes a water breeder system in which two reactors operate in symbiosis, one using 238U-233U as fuel and producing plutonium, and the other using 232Th-Pu as fuel and producing 233U. Thus, each reactor feeds the other. From the breeding point of view, the combined system has an advantage over the separate 238U-Pu and 233Th-233U cycles.