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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.
Matthew A. Gonzales, Brian C. Kiedrowski, Anil K. Prinja, Forrest B. Brown
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 191 | Number 1 | July 2018 | Pages 1-45
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2018.1442546
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The heavy-gas model with specific energy-dependent absorption cross sections is used to construct analytical, semi-analytical, and numerical free-gas scattering benchmarks for the neutron spectrum, effective multiplication factor k, and temperature coefficient in an infinite, homogeneous medium. The energy dependences considered are piecewise constant, constant plus inverse in energy, and piecewise linear. Analytic forms for k and in terms of hypergeometric functions are obtained for piecewise-constant absorption with two energy ranges and for constant-plus-inverse-in-energy absorption. Analogous semi-analytical integral expressions are obtained for piecewise-linear absorption with two energy ranges. Numerical solutions of a linear system are obtained for piecewise-constant and piecewise-linear absorption for greater than two energy ranges. The heavy-gas model solutions of k are compared with continuous-energy Monte Carlo calculations; the results converge to the heavy-gas model with increasing target mass ratio A, demonstrating the heavy-gas model’s utility as a verification benchmark.