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RIC panel discusses pathway to fusion commercialization
Fusion leaders at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual Regulatory Information Conference discussed the path forward for regulating the burgeoning fusion industry. The speakers discussed government and private industry initiatives in the United States and United Kingdom, with a focus on efforts shaping the near-term deployment of commercial fusion machines.
A recurring theme was the need to explain the difference between fission and fusion. Representatives from the Department of Energy and Type One Energy highlighted this as an important distinction for regulators, as it will allow fusion to undergo its own independent maturation process for developing standards and regulations in the same way that fission has. Lea Perlas, Fusion Program director at the Virginia Department of Health, said that confusion between fission and fusion has been a common cause for misplaced concerns among community members surrounding Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ proposed fusion plant site near Richmond, Va.
J. Bogen, K.-H. Schüller
Nuclear Technology | Volume 38 | Number 1 | April 1978 | Pages 104-112
Technical Paper | Low-Temperature Nuclear Heat / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT78-A16162
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nuclear power plants are normally designed for operation with condensing turbines for pure electricity production. The rational use of primary energy demands the combined production of electricity and low-temperature heat, especially for regions with high population densities. The choice of the plant layout for combined generation of electricity and heat from nuclear power stations depends on the requirements of the electrical and district heating grids, on technological criteria of the process, as well as on economic criteria. A 3782 MJ/s pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear steam supply system is used as a basis for the combined production of electricity and heat produced by extracting steam from the low pressure turbines of the turbo-generator and by installing a separate heating turbine. There are no important technical changes necessary in a PWR plant, designed for electricity generation, when changing to the combined generation of electricity and heat. Since the additional equipment for district heating production is designed in detail, the additional plant costs can be estimated. The result shows that, for a heating capacity range of 349 to 1163 MJ/s, the additional plant costs are on the order of 1 to 5% of the total investment for a 1300-MW(electric) PWR power station for pure electricity production.