FROM ITER TO FUSION POWER WESTON M. STACEY GEORGIA TECH NOVEMBER 1, 2012
SCHEDULE FOR FUSION POWER The development schedule for fusion power has and will continue to depend on i) the time required to overcome the technical challenges and on ii) the availability of the resources needed to do so. The technical challenges can be identified and reasonable estimates can be made of the time required to address them. The political will of governments to provide the sustained resources needed to develop fusion power has been and is the major time imponderable.
MAJOR STEPPING STONES ON THE PATH TO FUSION POWER ITER Burning plasma physics, reactor-relevant plasma parameters and fusion technology, lowfluence testing of nuclear components, 500 MWth, (fusion power/ext. power)=qp=10. DEMO Reactor-relevant plasma and technology operation and reliability/availability, potential for economic competitiveness, 100s Mwe, Qp>20. POWER REACTOR 500-1000 Mwe, Qp>20, >75% availability.
ITER 500 MWth Experimental Fusion Reactor Under Construction Internationally in France to Operate 2021-2040
An Unofficial Fusion Power Development Schedule Canonical ITER 2020-40 More Likely? DEMO 2040-60 POWER REACTORs 2060 ITER 2020-40 Nuc&Mat 2012-50 DEMO 2050-70 POWER REACTORs 2070 Adv Phys 2012-50
ARIES-AT 1GWe POWER REACTOR
PLASMA PHYSICS ISSUES FOR DEMO Confirm stable plasma self-heating by highenergy fusion alpha particles. (ITER) Achieve reliable, controlled, steady-state plasma operation with non-inductive current drive and with high power density. (ITER+other) Prevent or mitigate instabilities that create large pulsed heat and electromagnetic force loads on the chamber walls. (ITER+other)
PLASMA SUPPORT TECHNOLOGY (magnets, heating, vacuum, etc.) ISSUES FOR DEMO Perform at reactor-relevant levels in a fusion reactor environment. (ITER) Develop high reliability necessary for high availability. (ITER+test fac+tokamak exps)
FUSION NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ISSUES FOR DEMO Fusion Nuclear Technology refers to those components that handle the particles and energy exhausted from the plasma and that provide for the generation and extraction/processing of tritium. While ITER will provide a low-fluence test-bed for FNST, other higher-fluence FNST facilities will be needed. ITER will address the remote maintenance of FNT components, but additional test facilities will be needed to take advantage of what is learned in ITER.
MATERIALS ISSUES FOR DEMO Radiation damage resistant structural materials. Nuclear technology component lifetimes. NEXT TALK
FISSION-FUSION HYBRIDS Closing the nuclear fuel cycle with sub-critical fast reactors driven by fusion neutron sources may be a nearer term application of fusion. Sub-critical operation of fast burner reactors for fissioning the TRU in SNF may result in the need for fewer burner reactors, fewer reprocessing steps and fewer HLWRs. A fusion neutron source with ITER physics and technology parameters would be sufficient to drive a 3000MWth fast burner reactor that would fission the annual TRU produced by 3 1000MWe LWRs, if 75% availability could be achieved Decay heat of SNF at 10 5 years could be reduced 30-fold, indicating an order of magnitude reduction in # HLWRs required. AIP Conf. Proc. 1442, p31 (2011).
SUB-CRITICAL ADVANCED BURNER REACTOR (SABR) ANNULAR FAST REACTOR (3000 MWth) Fuel TRU from spent nuclear fuel. TRU-Zr metal being developed by ANL. Sodium cooled, loop-type fast reactor. Based on fast reactor designs developed by ANL in Nuclear Program. TOKAMAK D-T FUSION NEUTRON SOURCE (200-500 MWth) Based on ITER plasma physics and fusion technology. Tritium self-sufficient (Li 4 SiO 4 ). Sodium cooled.
FUSION POWER DEVELOPMENT WITH A SYMBIOTIC FUSION-FISSION HYBRID PATH Nuc&Mat 2012-50 FFH 2035-55 FFHs 2050 ITER 2020-40 Adv Phys 2012-50 DEMO 2050-70 POWER REACTORs 2070
SUMMARY Magnetic fusion has developed almost to the experimental power reactor stage (ITER 2021-40). Further advances in tokamak physics and supporting technology, fusion nuclear science & technology and materials are needed before a DEMO by mid-century. Fusion electrical power reactors based on substantial physics and technology advances beyond ITER could be operational during the second half of the century. A subcritical fast burner reactor with a fusion neutron source based on ITER could be online in 25-30 years. Such reactors would reduce by >10 the number of long term geological repositories needed for secured, long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel.