8 results · ● Live web index
ioplus.nl news

‘Solution to major challenge in nuclear fusion energy closer’

https://ioplus.nl/en/posts/solution-to-major-challenge-in-nuclear-fusion-ener…

International experiments at the British fusion machine, MAST Upgrade, in Culham, led by Dutch researchers, demonstrate how the innovative ‘Super-X’ design offers significant advantages in managing the hot particles in the exhaust of fusion energy machines. The new experimental results take these initial observations beyond proof-of-concept by demonstrating the key benefits for fusion power plants: improved control over the energy exhaust while maintaining the complexity of the technology. The new results are a world first: at MAST Upgrade, researchers have demonstrated that the Super-X approach enables exhaust control without affecting the opposite exhaust or the core of the plasma where fusion energy is produced. The experiments further demonstrated that even a modest modification of the exhaust ‘legs’ compared to the conventional ‘short leg’ design already offers significant advantages in controlling the fusion heat. According to Bob Kool, DIFFER and TU/e, Control System Technology (ME), these results demonstrate the many advantages that alternative exhaust designs can offer in dissipating heat and thereby maintaining acceptable exhaust conditions.

Visit
thebrighterside.news news

Scientists solve a massive problem for fusion energy

https://www.thebrighterside.news/post/scientists-solve-a-massive-problem-for-…

Scientists develop an advanced method to better confine energetic particles in fusion reactors, significantly boosting stellarator

Visit
nae.edu research

NAE Website - Materials Challenges for Fusion Energy

https://www.nae.edu/7558/MaterialsChallengesforFusionEnergy

Achieving higher power densities in fusion reactors requires the development of as-yet-unknown materials or confinement concepts, due to the high heat fluxes which would occur at the plasma-facing components of the reactor. The first goal has been to reach what's called the break-even condition, which occurs when the amount of energy used to heat up the plasma is equal to the amount of energy that is produced by the fusion reaction. I will focus now on three specific areas where materials impact fusion reactor design: the plasma-facing region, where there is high heat flux and particles are impacting the metal structure; the plasma-diagnostic, heating, and magnet systems; and the structure of the blanket and first-wall region surrounding the plasma, which is the heart of the heat-extraction system. If you look at the sputtering behavior of various materials at fusion-relevant conditions (10-1,000 eV hydrogen ion energies), stainless steel is one of the worst possible plasma-facing materials.

Visit
nrc.gov official

Review of Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Fusion Reactor Materials

https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2413/ML24137A055.pdf

The high heat fluxes, high neutron energies, tritium breeding, and containment constraints place immense performance requirements on materials for the PFC/FW structures. This report focuses on the performance of fusion system PFC materials and the associated FW materials under conditions anticipated for near-term and advanced fusion demonstration and power systems. PFC/FW issues apply to most fusion systems regardless of the plasma confinement approach and must stand up to the most extreme operating conditions of all system components. The conditions which must be endured for DT fusion are more damaging to PFC/FW materials than other fusion fuel combinations due to the high energy neutrons produced. While there are multiple fusion system design issues that cannot be directly tested at the scale required to qualify a commercial-grade system, there are two issues that are always cited as major concerns for qualifying PFC and FW materials: irradiation effects and extreme heat loads.

Visit
iaea.org article

What is Fusion, and Why Is It So Difficult to Achieve?

http://www.iaea.org/bulletin/what-is-fusion-and-why-is-it-so-difficult-to-ach…

The sun, along with all other stars, is powered by a reaction called nuclear fusion. Today, we know that the sun, along with all other stars, is powered by a reaction called nuclear fusion. The amount of energy produced from fusion is very large — four times as much as nuclear fission reactions — and fusion reactions can be the basis of future fusion power reactors. On earth, we need temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius and intense pressure to make deuterium and tritium fuse, and sufficient confinement to hold the plasma and maintain the fusion reaction long enough for a net power gain, i.e. the ratio of the fusion power produced to the power used to heat the plasma. At the second United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in 1958 in Geneva, Switzerland, scientists unveiled nuclear fusion research to the world. The first international IAEA Fusion Energy Conference was held in 1961 and, since 1974, the IAEA convenes a conference every two years to foster discussion on developments and achievements in the field.

Visit