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The Other Energy Markets
Published in Anco S. Blazev, Global Energy Market Trends, 2021
Nuclear fusion is a futuristic concept that promises to have great impact on the energy sector…in the distant future, if ever. Fusion power is the energy generated by nuclear fusion processes—not to be confused with nuclear fission processes, which we reviewed above. In nuclear fusion, two or more atomic nuclei collide at a very high speed and join to form a new type of atomic nucleus.
Introduction
Published in Syed A. Nasar, F.C. Trutt, Electric Power Systems, 2018
Fusion power is scientifically feasible, but the engineering problems have not all been resolved. Thus, no fusion power plants exist in the world. Engineering implementation of a practical fusion-power generating station does not seem feasible in the near future (say, by the year 2000). The hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium are suitable as fusion fuels. Deuterium is abundant (one atom to each 6,700 atoms of hydrogen), and the energy cost of separating it would be almost negligible compared with the amount of energy released by fusion. Tritium, however, exists only in tiny amounts in nature and must be bred in a reactor. For fusion to occur, the nuclei must form a plasma (atoms heated to such a high temperature that they are stripped of their electrons). The plasma must be contained or confined in a region of space such that the plasma density is high. Furthermore, the plasma must be contained long enough for the fusion process to take place. Heating and plasma confinement are major engineering problems in fusion power generation [9].
Technology and sustainability
Published in Riadh Habash, Green Engineering, 2017
Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of energy for future generations, but it also presents so far insurmountable scientific and engineering challenges. This energy is inexpensive, virtually limitless, cleaner with no greenhouse gases (GHGs), and with little or no nuclear waste.
Japan’s Efforts to Develop the Concept of JA DEMO During the Past Decade
Published in Fusion Science and Technology, 2019
Kenji Tobita, Ryoji Hiwatari, Yoshiteru Sakamoto, Youji Someya, Nobuyuki Asakura, Hiroyasu Utoh, Yuya Miyoshi, Shinsuke Tokunaga, Yuki Homma, Satoshi Kakudate, Noriyoshi Nakajima, the Joint Special Design Team for Fusion DEMO
In parallel with the steady progress of ITER construction, many countries express increasing interest in post-ITER programs toward the realization of fusion power.1–6 Since the middle of the 2000s, Japanese reactor studies have been devoted to DEMO conceptual designs, and dozens of papers dealing with the conceptual designs have been published so far. Most of them deal with progress and updates of specific design issues, and thus it is perhaps hard to know an overall history of the design philosophy from the published literature. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the Japanese DEMO (JA DEMO) design studies during the past decade in a retrospective manner and to characterize Japan’s efforts to address DEMO design challenges aimed at design consistency and feasibility.
Effect of 14.7-MeV Protons and 3.6-MeV Alpha Particles on Fusion Structural Materials
Published in Fusion Science and Technology, 2020
S. I. Radwan, S. Abdel Samad, H. El-Khabeary
Fusion power is a power generation in which energy is generated by using nuclear fusion reactions to produce heat for electricity generation through a device named the thermonuclear reactor.1 Fusion reactions occur when two or more light atomic nuclei come close enough at a distance of 10−15 m to form a heavier atomic nucleus, then the nuclear force pulling them together exceeds the electrostatic force pushing them apart, fusing them into heavier nuclei.2 The strong force becomes effective at this distance and the two nuclei unite into one nucleus. Since the atomic nuclei have positive charges, they must overcome the Coulomb potential in order to approach each other within 10−15 m. The light nuclei must be moving at high speed in their collision. Thus, the nuclei are either accelerated or heated to a high temperature. Fusion processes require fuel and a highly confined environment with a high temperature and pressure to create a plasma in which fusion can occur. Fusion reactors generally use hydrogen isotopes, such as deuterium and tritium, that react more easily and create a confined plasma of millions of degrees using inertial methods (laser)3–6 or magnetic methods (tokamak and similar),7,8 although many other concepts have been attempted. Fusion reactions are of two basic types: (1) those that preserve the number of protons and neutrons and (2) those converted between protons and neutrons. Reactions of the first type are the most important for practical fusion energy production, whereas those of the second type are crucial to the initiation of star burning.
Application of the Denovo Discrete Ordinates Radiation Transport Code to Large-Scale Fusion Neutronics
Published in Fusion Science and Technology, 2018
Katherine E. Royston, Seth R. Johnson, Thomas M. Evans, Scott W. Mosher, Jonathan Naish, Bor Kos
Fusion energy systems pose unique challenges to the modeling and simulation community due to their size and complexity. The ITER experimental fusion reactor will be the world’s largest fusion facility and will demonstrate the feasibility of fusion power. The design of the ITER facility requires detailed radiation responses beyond the scale of any comparable simulations that have been performed to date. Current simulations are limited to a combination of coarse spatial meshes and energy grids, as well as coupling of smaller, compartmentalized models. Novel implementations and methods are needed to fully resolve the radiation field for this class of problems.