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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.
M. A. Abdou, Robert W. Conn
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 55 | Number 3 | November 1974 | Pages 256-266
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE74-A23452
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A study of the nuclear performance of several recently reported fusion reactor blanket designs is presented. In particular, the nuclear heating, the tritium breeding ratio, and the charged-particle production rates in the various systems are reported. It is found that the total nuclear heating can be overestimated by as much as 30%, that ∼20 MeV per fusion is a typical value for the energy production capability of most blankets, and that 22.4 MeV per fusion is a more maximum than nominal value for blankets without fissile materials. The tritium breeding ratio in lithium blankets is high, and uncertainties in nuclear data are unlikely to prevent such systems from breeding. Flibe blankets are marginal in this regard, and uncertainties can prevent breeding in these systems. Hydrogen and helium production rates are fairly large in all systems; they are highest in sintered aluminum product and in the PE-16 alloy, and lowest in niobium, with stainless steel in between. However, much of the required nuclear data on charged-particle-producing reactions is unavailable, and the need for cross-section measurements in this area is discussed.