Methodology for Scaling Fusion Power Plant Availability

Abstract

Normally in the U.S. fusion power plant conceptual design studies, the development of the plant availability and the plant capital and operating costs makes the implicit assumption that the plant is a 10th of a kind fusion power plant. This is in keeping with the DOE guidelines published in the 1970s, the PNL report1, "Fusion Reactor Design Studies - Standard Accounts for Cost Estimates. This assumption specifically defines the level of the industry and technology maturity and eliminates the need to define the necessary research and development efforts and costs to construct a one of a kind or the first of a kind power plant. It also assumes all the "teething" problems have been solved and the plant can operate in the manner intended. The plant availability analysis assumes all maintenance actions have been refined and optimized by the operation of the prior nine or so plants. The actions are defined to be as quick and efficient as possible. This study will present a methodology to enable estimation of the availability of the one of a kind (one OAK) plant or first of a kind (1st OAK) plant. To clarify, one of the OAK facilities might be the pilot plant or the demo plant that is prototypical of the next generation power plant, but it is not a full-scale fusion power plant with all fully validated "mature" subsystems. The first OAK facility is truly the first commercial plant of a common design that represents the next generation plant design. However, its subsystems, maintenance equipment and procedures will continue to be refined to achieve the goals for the 10th OAK power plant.