Status of Safety and Environmental Activities in the US Fusion Program

This paper presents an overview of recent safety efforts in both magnetic and inertial fusion energy. Safety has been a part of fusion design and operations since the inception of fusion research. Safety research and safety design support have been provided for a variety of experiments in both the magnetic and inertial fusion programs. The main safety issues are reviewed, some recent safety highlights are discussed and the programmatic impacts that safety research has had are presented. Future directions in the safety and environmental area are proposed

Neutronics Issues and Inertial Fusion Energy: A Summary of Findings NEUTRONICS ISSUES AND INERTIAL FUSION ENERGY: A SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

ABSTRACT We have analyzed and compared five major inertial fusion energy (IFE) and two representative magnetic fusion energy (MI%) power plant designs for their environment, safety, and health (ES&H) characteristics. Our work has focussed upon the neutronics of each of the designs and the resulting radiological hazard indices. The calculation of a consistent set of hazard indices allows comparisons to be made between the designs. Such comparisons enable identification of trends in fusion ES&H characteristics and may be used to increase the likelihood of fusion achieving its full potential with respect to ES&H characteristics. The present work summarizes our findings and conclusions. This work emphasizes the need for more research in low-activation materials and for the experimental measurement of radionuclide release fractions under accident conditions

Ion Deflection for Final Optics in Laser Inertial Fusion Power Plants Ion Deflection for Final Optics in Laser Inertial Fusion Power Plants

ABSTRACT Left unprotected, both transmissive and reflective final optics in a laser-driven inertial fusion power plant would quickly fail from melting, pulsed thermal stress, or degradation of optical properties as a result of ion implantation. One potential option for mitigating this threat is to magnetically deflect the ions such that they are directed to a robust energy dump. In this paper we detail integrated studies that have been carried out to assess the viability of this approach for protecting final optics

CHAMBER DESIGN FOR THE LASER INERTIAL FUSION ENERGY (LIFE) ENGINE

The Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE