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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
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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A more open future for nuclear research
A growing number of institutional, national, and funder mandates are requiring researchers to make their published work immediately publicly accessible, through either open repositories or open access (OA) publications. In addition, both private and public funders are developing policies, such as those from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the European Commission, that ask researchers to make publicly available at the time of publication as much of their underlying data and other materials as possible. These, combined with movement in the scientific community toward embracing open science principles (seen, for example, in the dramatic rise of preprint servers like arXiv), demonstrate a need for a different kind of publishing outlet.
I. N. Sviatoslavsky, M. E. Sawan, S. Majumdar
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 44 | Number 1 | July 2003 | Pages 59-63
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - MFE Chamber Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A310
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Advanced Power Extraction (APEX) program is exploring concepts for blanket designs that can enhance the potential of fusion while using both liquid and solid walls. In that context, an innovative blanket design of dry solid wall configuration, with potential for high neutron wall loading has been proposed. The blanket utilizes nanocomposited ferritic (NCF) steel structure (designated 12YWT), which has a maximum operating temperature of 800°C. The cooling/breeding material is Flibe (Li2BeF4), a low viscosity version of this molten salt, which has a melting temperature of 465°C and is compatible with ferritic steels up to 700°C. The dimensions for this study have been taken from ARIES-AT. The blanket module, which extends 0.3 m in the toroidal direction at mid-plane, is equipped with spiraling discs ramping from the bottom to the top. The coolant enters on the bottom at 500°C, then travels on the spiral discs, from the rear of the module to the front, then back to the rear, all the way to the top where it exits from the module at 590°C. On its way up, the coolant velocity is amplified at the first wall (FW) by centrifugal action, providing a high heat transfer coefficient for dissipating the high surface heating. The 3 mm thick FW is scalloped with semicircular projections inclined in the flow direction. This facilitates unimpeded smooth flow at the FW, while at the same time stiffening the FW against pressure, obviating the need for welded reinforcements. The discs are made of two halves assembled together with a Be pebble bed enclosed as a neutron multiplier. Preliminary neutronics analysis for the outboard blanket has shown a local tritium breeding ratio (TBR) of 1.36, and an energy multiplication (M) of 1.26 including contribution from a secondary module, using natural Li. The pressure drop of 0.56 MPa in the module produces a modified primary bending stress of 124 MPa where the allowable stress for this material at 750°C is 142 MPa. Without optimization, this blanket is capable of dissipating an average neutron wall loading of 6.4 MW/m2, with a peak value of 9.6 MW/m2 and a peak surface heating of 1.3 MW/m2. The coolant picks up energy in the secondary blanket exiting the reactor at 600°C. Assuming the use of a supercritical steam power cycle, an efficiency of 48% can be expected.
