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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
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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Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
BWXT will scout potential TRISO fuel production sites in Wyoming
BWX Technologies Inc. announced today that its Advanced Technologies subsidiary has signed a cooperation agreement with the state of Wyoming to evaluate locations and requirements for siting a potential new TRISO nuclear fuel fabrication facility in the state.
Samuel G. Varnado, Gary A. Carlson
Nuclear Technology | Volume 29 | Number 3 | June 1976 | Pages 415-427
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor Material / Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT76-A31606
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Electrical power generation by controlled fusion may provide a partial solution to the world’s long-term energy supply problem. Achievement of a fusion reaction requires the confinement of an extremely hot plasma for a time long enough to allow fuel burnup. Inertial confinement of the plasma may be possible through the use of tightly focused, relativistic electron beams to compress a deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel pellet. A power balance analysis applied to a conceptual electron-beam fusion power plant indicates that energy gains of between 5 and 16 are required from the fuel pellet for economic feasibility. To deliver an average power of 100 MW(e), the reactor must operate at a pulse rate of ∼35 Hz, assuming an electron-beam energy of 1 MJ per pulse. The use of a fusion-fission hybrid reactor substantially relaxes the pellet gain requirement, and allows breakeven plant operation at near unit pellet gain. Calculations show that x rays and ions will comprise an important part of the total energy release (30% for a pellet gain of 7.9). The x-ray radiation has an ∼350-eV blackbody spectrum. The energy of ions from the gold shell surrounding the D-T fuel lies between 100 and 500 keV. Consideration of the response of diode and first-wall materials to the incident x-ray and ion fluxes shows that wet walls of lithium or tin over niobium are not desirable, due to spallation or other stress wave damage, engineering complexity, and excessive materials usage and cost. A solid wall protected by a graphite cloth shield offers the maximum protection to the surrounding blanket structure.