Abstract
The qualification and validation of nuclear technologies are daunting tasks for fusion demonstration (DEMO) and power plants. This is particularly true for advanced designs that involve harsh radiation environment with 14 MeV neutrons and high-temperature operating regimes. This paper outlines the unique qualification and validation processes developed in the U.S., offering the only access to the complete fusion environment, focusing on the most prominent U.S. blanket concept (the dual cooled PbLi (DCLL)) along with testing new generations of structural and functional materials in dedicated test modules. The venue for such activities is the proposed Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF), which is viewed as an essential element of the U.S. fusion roadmap. A staged blanket testing strategy has been developed to test and enhance the DCLL blanket performance during each phase of FNSF D-T operation. A materials testing module (MTM) is critically important to include in the FNSF as well to test a broad range of specimens of future, more advanced generations of materials in a relevant fusion environment. The most important attributes for MTM are the relevant He/dpa ratio (10–15) and the much larger specimen volumes compared to the 10–500 mL range available in the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) and European DEMO-Oriented Neutron Source (DONES).
Highlights
Design teams in the U.S and abroad tackled the qualification/validation problem using different approaches, but with the common goal of developing a testing facility before the demonstration plant (DEMO) to help qualify and/or validate technologies for key fusion components and for the overarching structural and functional materials
The two-machine pathway, shown at the top of Figure 1, is the preferred U.S pathway to commercial power plant where the first machine would be an Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF), followed by a DEMO envisioned to be identical in content, but varying in performance
Since testing a number of full-size blanket sectors is judged mandatory for the qualification of any blanket concept, the more advanced version of the dual‐cooled PbLineutron (DCLL) blanket, originally tested in the test blanket modules (TBM), is later deployed as a full sector in subsequent phase(s) of High‐temperature superconducting (HTS)-FNSF to validate their characteristics and features for DEMO
Summary
Design teams in the U.S and abroad tackled the qualification/validation problem using different approaches, but with the common goal of developing a testing facility before the demonstration plant (DEMO) to help qualify and/or validate technologies for key fusion components (blanket, divertor, vacuum vessel, and magnet) and for the overarching structural and functional materials. In the U.S, the venue for such activities is the proposed Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) It is the only U.S. facility with the combined radiation damage and fusion environmental conditions (14 MeV neutrons, high operating temperatures, strong magnetic fields, etc.) needed for engineering qualification of materials and components prior to the DEMO design and construction. The two-machine pathway, shown at the top of Figure 1, is the preferred U.S pathway to commercial power plant where the first machine would be an FNSF (that could be based on the tokamak, spherical tokamak, or stellarator concept [1]), followed by a DEMO envisioned to be identical in content (i.e., same confinement concept, materials and technologies), but varying in performance. Identical in content (i.e., same confinement concept, materials and technologies), but varying in performance level (such as the fusion power and availability).
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