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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.
Nicolo’ Abrate, Alex Aimetta, Sandra Dulla, Nicola Pedroni
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 197 | Number 12 | December 2023 | Pages 2977-2999
YMSR Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2023.2190861
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The development of new reactor technologies requires careful assessments of the various sources of epistemic uncertainties. In this work, nuclear data uncertainties featuring the main isotopes of the U/Th molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) design are propagated through Monte Carlo calculations to quantify the final uncertainty on some relevant integral parameters. In the first part of this paper, some best-estimate calculations are performed by selecting different nuclear data libraries, showing the remarkable impact of this choice on the final responses. Then the Generalized Perturbation Theory routine available in Serpent 2 is adopted for a preliminary sensitivity and uncertainty analyses with respect to keff, highlighting a significant discrepancy between the covariance of the JEFF-3.3 and ENDF/B-VIII.0 libraries. After the selection of a few relevant nuclides, namely, 7Li, 19F, 232Th, and 233U, the Total Monte Carlo method and the unscented transform (UT) are then adopted to estimate the uncertainty of other responses of interest like the conversion ratio and some multigroup constants. Some potential issues of the UT are highlighted, and a mitigation strategy is applied. A relevant result of this analysis concerns the need for better data evaluations for the nuclides constituting the circulating salt for an effective deployment of the MSFR technology.