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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
International Conference on Mathematics and Computational Methods Applied to Nuclear Science and Engineering (M&C 2025)
April 27–30, 2025
Denver, CO|The Westin Denver Downtown
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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State legislation: Delaware delving into nuclear energy possibilities
A bill that would create a nuclear energy task force in Delaware has passed the state Senate and is now being considered in the House of Representatives.
Theron Marshall, Robert Pawelko, Robert A. Anderl, Galen R. Smolik, Richard L. Moore, Brad Merrill
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 4 | June 2004 | Pages 592-596
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A534
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Carbon fiber composites (CFCs) are often suggested as armor material for the first wall of a fusion plasma chamber because of carbon's low atomic number, high thermal conductivity, and high melting point. However, carbon is chemically reactive in air and readily absorbs tritium. Accordingly, it is believed that during a loss-of-vacuum accident (LOVA), the CFC armor will react with the air ingress and release its absorbed tritium. The mobilization of this tritium and the carbon monoxide produced by the CFC-air chemical reaction are both safety concerns. This paper discusses the MELCOR thermal-hydraulic analysis of a simulated LOVA for the SOMBRERO fusion design. The MELCOR analysis is important because it included data from recent oxidation experiments that studied the advanced CFC NB31. A previous MELCOR analysis of a simulated SOMBRERO LOVA event suggested that the ingress of air would aggressively oxidize the CFC. While the current analysis revealed initial first-wall temperatures that exceed those of the prior analyses, the trend reversed 10 h after the onset of the LOVA. The calculated wall temperatures at the back of the blanket for the current analysis were consistently lower than those previously calculated using the older data. Accordingly, the conclusion is that a LOVA event for a fusion design similar to SOMBRERO may not be as grave as once predicted.