Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
4921294 | Fusion Engineering and Design | 2016 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
For over 50 years, engineers have been looking for an irradiation facility that can provide a fusion reactor appropriate neutron spectrum over a significant volume to test fusion reactor materials that is relatively inexpensive and can be built in a minimum of time. The 14Â MeV neutron irradiation facility described here can nearly exactly duplicate the neutron spectrum typical of a DT fusion reactor first wall at damage rates of â4 displacements per atom and 40Â appm He generated over a 2Â l volume per full power year of operation. The projected cost of this multi-beam facility is estimated at â$20 million and it can be built in <4 years. A single-beam prototype, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is already being built to produce medical isotopes. The neutrons are produced by a 300Â keV deuterium beam accelerated into 4Â kPa (30Â Torr) tritium target. The total tritium inventory is <2Â g and <0.1Â g of T2 is consumed per year. The core technology proposed has already been fully demonstrated, and no new plasma physics or materials innovations will be required for the test facility to become operational.
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Authors
Gerald L. Kulcinski, Ross F. Radel, Andrew Davis,