In nuclear fusion power research, the plasma-facing material (or materials) (PFM) is any material used to construct the plasma-facing components (PFC), those components exposed to the plasma within which nuclear fusion occurs, and particularly the material used for the lining the first wall or divertor region of the reactor vessel.
Plasma-facing materials for fusion reactor designs must support the overall steps for energy generation, these include:
Generating heat through fusion,
Capturing heat in the first wall,
Transferring heat at a faster rate than capturing heat.
Generating electricity.
In addition PFMs have to operate over the lifetime of a fusion reactor vessel by handling the harsh environmental conditions, such as:
Ion bombardment causing physical and chemical sputtering and therefore erosion.
Ion implantation causing displacement damage and chemical composition changes
High-heat fluxes (e.g. 10 MW/m) due to ELMS and other transients.
Limited tritium codeposition and sequestration.
Stable thermomechanical properties under operation.
Limited number of negative nuclear transmutation effects
Currently, fusion reactor research focuses on improving efficiency and reliability in heat generation and capture and on raising the rate of transfer. Generating electricity from heat is beyond the scope of current research, due to existing efficient heat-transfer cycles, such as heating water to operate steam turbines that drive electrical generators.
Current reactor designs are fueled by deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reactions, which produce high-energy neutrons that can damage the first wall, however, high-energy neutrons (14.1 MeV) are needed for blanket and Tritium breeder operation. Tritium is not a naturally abundant isotope due to its short half-life, therefore for a fusion D-T reactor it will need to be bred by the nuclear reaction of lithium (Li), boron (B), or beryllium (Be) isotopes with high-energy neutrons that collide within the first wall.
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This course completes the knowledge in plasma physics that students have acquired in the previous two courses, with a discussion of different applications, in the fields of magnetic confinement and co
Magnetic confinement fusion is an approach to generate thermonuclear fusion power that uses magnetic fields to confine fusion fuel in the form of a plasma. Magnetic confinement is one of two major branches of fusion energy research, along with inertial confinement fusion. The magnetic approach began in the 1940s and absorbed the majority of subsequent development. Fusion reactions combine light atomic nuclei such as hydrogen to form heavier ones such as helium, producing energy.
A stellarator is a plasma device that relies primarily on external magnets to confine a plasma. Scientists researching magnetic confinement fusion aim to use stellarator devices as a vessel for nuclear fusion reactions. The name refers to the possibility of harnessing the power source of the stars, such as the Sun. It is one of the earliest fusion power devices, along with the z-pinch and magnetic mirror.
The Joint European Torus, or JET, is an operational magnetically confined plasma physics experiment, located at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire, UK. Based on a tokamak design, the fusion research facility is a joint European project with a main purpose of opening the way to future nuclear fusion grid energy. At the time of its design JET was larger than any comparable machine. JET was built with the hope of reaching scientific breakeven where the fusion energy gain factor Q =1.0.
The first MOOC to teach the basics of plasma physics and its main applications: fusion energy, astrophysical and space plasmas, societal and industrial applications
The first MOOC to teach the basics of plasma physics and its main applications: fusion energy, astrophysical and space plasmas, societal and industrial applications
Learn the basics of plasma, one of the fundamental states of matter, and the different types of models used to describe it, including fluid and kinetic.
In recent years a strong effort has been made to investigate disruption avoidance schemes in order to aid the development of integrated operational scenarios for ITER. Within the EUROfusion programme the disruptive H-mode density limit (HDL) has been studi ...
Bristol2024
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Nuclear fusion presents a promising clean energy source to mitigate future energy crises, with magnetic confinement fusion well-positioned to provide a baseload scenario to power future reactors. The unmitigated power exhaust of such reactors threatens its ...