Publication

Materials for fusion power reactors

Nadine Baluc
2006
Journal Articles

Abstract

The present paper reviews the status of the knowledge on materials for fusion power plants, pointing out that they constitute one of the main key issues on the path to future reactors. Specific issues concerning plasma-facing materials, functional materials and structural materials are successively reviewed. The main candidate materials are presented, with emphasis on the remaining open issues in the field of selection and qualification of materials for fusion power reactors.

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/b4b24d2a-5952-41a3-8434-40fc694a1e74

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Nadine Baluc
2006
Journal Articles

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/b4b24d2a-5952-41a3-8434-40fc694a1e74

About this result

Related concepts (32)

Fusion power

Fusion power is a proposed form of power generation that would generate electricity by using heat from nuclear fusion reactions. In a fusion process, two lighter atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, while releasing energy. Devices designed to harness this energy are known as fusion reactors. Research into fusion reactors began in the 1940s, but as of 2023, no device has reached net power. Fusion processes require fuel and a confined environment with sufficient temperature, pressure, and confinement time to create a plasma in which fusion can occur.

Nuclear reactor

A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating.

Magnetic confinement fusion

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.

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