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Launching into tomorrow: NRIC guides new era of research and deployment
In June 2025, the Department of Energy announced the Reactor Pilot Program, an authorization pathway that allowed reactor developers to partner with the DOE to get first-of-a-kind (FOAK) reactors built and tested. Soon after, the DOE rolled out a complementary Fuel Line Pilot Program, which aimed to fast-track fuel projects. In all, 20 projects were accepted into the new programs.
R. W. Moir, T. D. Rognlien
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | October 2007 | Pages 408-416
Technical Paper | The Technology of Fusion Energy - Experimental Devices and Advanced Designs | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1522
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A fusion power plant is described that utilizes a new version of the tandem mirror device including spinning liquid walls. The magnetic configuration is evaluated with an axisymmetric equilibrium code predicting an average beta of 60%. The geometry allows a flowing molten salt, (flibe-Li2BeF4), which protects the walls and structures from damage arising from neutrons and plasma particles. The surface of the liquid facing the burning plasma is heated by bremsstrahlung radiation, line radiation, and by neutrons. The temperature of the free surface of the liquid is calculated, and then the evaporation rate is estimated from vapor-pressure data. The allowed impurity concentration in the burning plasma is taken as 1% fluorine, which gives a 17% reduction in the fusion power owing to D/T fuel dilution, with F line-radiation causing minor power degradation. The end leakage power density of 0.6 MW/m2 is readily handled by liquid jets. The tritium breeding is adequate with natural lithium. The simple geometry and the use of liquid walls promise the cost of power competitive with that from fission and coal.