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Division Spotlight
Fusion Energy
This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
Meeting Spotlight
Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo (UWC 2024)
August 4–7, 2024
Marco Island, FL|JW Marriott Marco Island
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Latest News
Vogtle-3 shuts down for valve issue
One of the new Vogtle units in Georgia was shut down unexpectedly on Monday last week for a valve issue that has since been investigated and repaired. According to multiple local news outlets, Georgia Power reported on July 17 that Unit 3 was back in service.
Southern Company spokesperson Jacob Hawkins confirmed that Vogtle-3 went off line at 9:25 p.m. local time on July 8 “due to lowering water levels in the steam generators caused by a valve issue on one of the three main feedwater pumps.”
R. A. Krakowski
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 2 | September 1991 | Pages 121-143
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29685
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Two decades of fusion reactor conceptual design have led to a clearer definition of an “attractive” fusion power plant. Recent advances in commercial reactor designs have pushed in the direction of smaller, more compact systems while stressing material and configurational choices that amplify safety and environmental (S&E) advantages (e.g., inherent or passive safety and significantly reduced long-term radioactive waste). When intelligently amalgamated, compactness and favorable S&E characteristics can enable fusion power to be competitive. The history of fusion reactor conceptual design, the constituents of an attractive fusion end product, and recent progress infusion reactor studies as embodied in the TITAN reversed-field pinch and the more recent and ongoing Advanced Reactor Innovations and Evaluation Study (ARIES) advanced tokamak reactor designs, are reviewed. The future for magnetic fusion energy can be bright if the right physics, technology, and materials research and development (R&D) choices are made now. An important ingredient in this “right choice” is design simplification and subsystem combination to achieve requisite levels of reliability and ease of maintenance, while ensuring competitive energy costs and acceptable S&E features. Significant departures from the “conventional” (i.e., the current R&D direction) tokamak physics embodiment are required to achieve these goals.