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ORNL, Rutherford Energy Ventures launch fusion partnership
Fusion Upscaled Leveraged Consortia for Rapid Acceleration (FULCRA) is the new public-private partnership between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Rutherford Energy Ventures, a fusion consultancy company headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. FULCRA intends to create shared fusion test bed infrastructure at ORNL to serve as a design and funding model for similar test facilities at other national laboratories.
Chang M. Kang, Jin-Kyu Kim, Won-Gu Kang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 211 | Number 6 | June 2025 | Pages 1337-1346
Note | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2024.2387409
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An innovative design is introduced for neutron transmutation employing a proton accelerator in conjunction with a compact subcritical system. The transmutation converter comprises a spherical target enveloped by a subcritical assembly. The subcritical assembly consists of a moderator and low-enriched uranium in shell plates. The subcritical assembly has an inner radius of 10 cm and a thickness of 40 or 55 cm. The material used for the target is lead, and beryllium or beryllium oxide is used as a moderator. Low-enriched uranium in the subcritical assembly contains 5% 235U. The transmutation half-life is inversely proportional to the integral of epithermal 99Tc capture rates. The MCNP6 simulation demonstrates that the transmutation half-life is less than 1 year when exposed to 1-GeV protons at 5 mA. Additionally, it is notable that this half-life can be further reduced with increased proton energies and currents. Previous studies have reported that the 99Tc transmutation half-life using fast reactors and an accelerator-driven system ranges from tens to hundred years; this design concept represents a substantial advancement to previous research efforts.