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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.
L. Jutier, C. Riffard, A. Santamarina, E. Guillou, G. Grassi, D. Lecarpentier, F. Lauvaud, A. Coulaud, M. Hampartzounian, M. Tardy, S. Kitsos
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 181 | Number 2 | October 2015 | Pages 105-136
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE14-51
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Burnup credit for used fuel assemblies, in particular, pressurized water reactor uranium oxide, has been a major focus of research in France for more than 30 years. As a result, a wealth of knowledge and experience has been gained. The first implementation of burnup credit in France used the “50-leastirradiated- cm” method approved by the French safety authority in the early 1980s. However, because of the continuous increase in fuel enrichment, the industry is interested in reducing the conservatisms of this method by taking into consideration more realistic hypotheses, such as the introduction of fission products and a nonuniform axial burnup profile. To address this concern, a working group, bringing together several French nuclear companies and institutions [AREVA, CEA (Commissariat a` l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives), EDF (Electricite´ de France), and IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Suˆrete´ Nucle´aire)], was created in 1997. This paper presents the results of the working group’s discussions and studies on all the issues pertaining to the use of burnup credit. In addition, the practical experience of AREVA TN (a division of AREVA dealing with radioactive materials transport and storage throughout the entire nuclear fuel cycle) with transport casks, using input from these results, is described.