New design could finally help to bring fusion power closer to reality

Re:New design could finally help to bring fusion power close... by throwaway_yy2Di on Monday August 10, 2015 @06:28PM (#10037872)

According to their paper [0], the entire vaccum vessel is considered disposable and might survive only a few months. (It's also explicitly an experimental reactor meant to study neutron radiation damage, so they're hardly claiming it's a practical commercial design. But I think you're right, that the problem is basically unsolved).

    This allows the vacuum vessel to be replaced quickly,
    mitigating first wall survivability concerns, and permits a
    single device to test many vacuum vessel designs and
    divertor materials.
    
    [...] The replaceable vacuum vessel is made of corrosion-
    resistant Inconel 718, which maintains high strength and
    corrosion resistance at elevated temperatures.
    
    [...] Little research has been done regarding how Inconel
    718 responds to the irradiation environment of a fusion
    device [82]. However, studying the response of components to
    fusion neutron effects is part of the motivation for
    ARC. [...] It is unknown if Inconel 718 would behave
    similarly in a fusion neutron spectrum, but one expects the
    vacuum vessel would survive for at least 6-12 months (15-30
    DPA).

[0] http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.3540

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Re:New design could finally help to bring fusion power close... by iaw on Monday August 10, 2015 @06:47PM (#10037978)

Thanks for pointing that out. I don't think I conveyed myself well in my original post, this is a fantastic development but I feel like the article didn't emphasize that the development is really about moving towards the material science that we need. It felt like the article sensationalized the energy output per unit size and didn't focus enough on the material science challenges of the problem (as well as how much this will aide in their solution).

The authors clearly recognize this, I just wish the public understood it better.

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Re:New design could finally help to bring fusion power close... by throwaway_yy2Di on Monday August 10, 2015 @06:50PM (#10037990)

The article was written by MIT's public-relations office, so interpret that as you like.

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