International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

Additionally, two other reactors, the international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) for which the location is under negotiation, and the Tokamak Physics Experiment at PPPL, Princeton, New Jersey, are proposed. The most impressive advances have been obtained on the three biggest tokamaks, TETR, JET, andJT-60, which are located in the United States, Europe, and Japan, respectively. As of this writing fusion energy development in the United States is dependent on federal binding (10—12). 

The website for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project. Explore this site for the latest on the science andpolitics of this important project. 

Fusion has already been achieved in several devices, but not beyond the break-even point, where the amount of energy produced is the same as the amount consumed. Much basic research is still required and is the focus of a number of international collaborative efforts. As discussed in Chapter 4, foremost among these efforts is the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which will be a scale-up of the Princeton Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor shown in Figure 19.17. 

The planned International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor tlTERl. as of 1994. is the center-stage attraction for the fusion power community. As observed by Puul-Henri Rebut, director of IT H R, "If ITER fails, fusion will he delayed half a century—or more." Rebut also directs fusion research at the present JET facility. 

As opposed to nuclear fission, nuclear fusion is the reaction when two light atomic nuclei fuse together, forming a heavier nucleus. That nucleus releases energy. So far, fusion power generators bum more energy than they create. However, that may change with the construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Southern France. To be completed in 2016 at a cost of about 11.7 billion, the reactor is a pilot project to show the world the feasibility of full-scale fusion power. 

Next-step D-T burning fusion reactors, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), will require several kilograms of tritium [1,2]. While most of the tritium will be contained in the fuel process loop, the interaction of the plasma with plasma-facing components (first-wall armour, limiters, and divertors) will lead to accumulation of tritium in the torus. Based on the amounts and distribution of D retention in TFTR and... 

R. W. Conn, V. A. Chuyanov, N. Inoue, D. R. Sweetman, The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ientific American, April 1992, 75 J. G. Cordey, R. J. Goldston, R. R. Parker, Progress Toward a Tokomak Fusion Reactor, Physics Today, Jan. 1992, 22... 

The NET team has become the pivotal point for initiating and coordinating R D in fusion technology, as well as for Europe s contribution to the Engineering Design Activities of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER EDA) which was established in 1992 by the EU, Japan, Russia and the US. 

In future generations of nuclear reactors - especially supercritical water reactors (SCWR), 4th generation nuclear reactors and the ITER project (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) - water should still be considered as a suitable coolant fluid, but it will be submitted to more extreme conditions of temperature and LET (high flux of neutrons). All contemporary studies show that it will be beyond reach to extrapolate the existing simulations to these new conditions without experimental determinations of essential parameters such as radiolytic yields and rate constants. 

In the current ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) divertor design (November 1997 Fig. 7.11), almost the whole divertor siuface is covered by tungsten, representing more than 100 tons in the case of the ITER construction. During ITER operation, the tungsten target plates will have to be replaced between 5 to 8 times due to sputtering erosion [7.16]. 

FIGURE 7.11. Schematic view of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) 100 t of tungsten are used for the ITER constmction. By courtesy of Plansee AG, Austria. 

These glass fiber-reinforced 4-phenylethynyl phthalic anhydride-terminated poly-imides were of interest as possible S-2 glass fiber-reinforced composites as superconducting magnetic mataial insulation intended for use in future nuclear fusion devices, such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), Fusion Experimental Reactor (ITER), or Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE). 

Fusion power would not have the drawbacks associated with fission power, but no commercial fusion reactor is expected before 2050. In 2005, an international consortium consisting of the European Union, Japan, USA, Russia, South Korea, India, and China announced the 10 billion ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) project, which will be built in France to show within 30 years the technical feasibility of fusion power. Proposed fusion reactors use deuterium as fuel and in current designs also lithium. Assuming a fusion energy output equal to today s global need, the lithium reserves would last 3000 years. 

Tempered martensitic steels have been more recently studied as possible stractural material for nuclear applications, while they are frequently used in thermal power plants as circuit components. Research on these materials is also carried out in the firamework of work done for the design of new-generation nuclear reactors, including fast neutron and sodium-cooled reactors (tertiary loop), Pb and PbBi reactors and the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) fusion reactor (Table 6.1). These reactors have different characteristics in terms of technological maturity and environment effects on material durability. Tempered martensitic steels with 9—12% Cr have some advantages so that they may be preferred over some of their... 

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