ANALYSIS OF THE KEY FEATURES OF THE DEMOUNTABLE TOKAMAK FUSION CORE CONCEPT

MORE THAN THREE DECADES HAVE PASSED SINCE THE UNITED STATES EMBARKED ON THE PROGRAM TO DEVELOP FUSION ENERGY. SINCE, 1973, NUMEROUS SYSTEMS STUDIES HAVE PRODUCED CONCEPTUAL FUSION REACTOR DESIGNS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN VIEWED AS MEETING THE NEEDS OF ELECTRIC UTILITIES. THESE STUDIES HAVE FEATURED SUPERCONDUCTING CONFINEMENT TOKAMAKS AND MIRRORS BECAUSE OF THE GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR PHYSICS BASIS AND THE CONVICTION THAT SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS OFFERED THE ONLY HOPE FOR AN ACCEPTABLE POWER BALANCE. HOWEVER, OTHER DESIGN EFFORTS HAVE INCLUDED A VARIETY OF CONFINEMENT CONCEPTS BASED ON NORMALLY CONDUCTING MAGNETS. THESE STUDIES INDICATE THAT THIS MAGNET APPROACH CAN BE ECONOMICALLY ATTRACTIVE PROVIDING THAT HIGH GAIN IS ACHIEVED, SUBJECT TO FIRST WALL HEAT FLUX CONSTRAINTS, AND THAT NEUTRON DOSE TO THE REACTOR INTERNALS IS RECOGNIZED AS A LIMIT. THE PROPOSED WORK IS ON A TOKAMAK CONCEPT THAT HAS BEEN CONCEIVED SUBJECT TO THE ABOVE CONDITIONS. IT IS DIRECTED AT HIGH FIELD OPERATION TO COMPENSATE FOR MODEST BETA PERFORMANCE, HIGH GAIN, AND A REACTOR MAINTENANCE CONFIGURATION FOR THE CHANGEOUT OF NEUTRON DAMAGED CORES. CALLED THE DEMOUNTABLE TOKAMAK FUSION CORE (DTFC) CONCEPT, IT PROVIDES FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE CENTER PORTION OF THE TOKAMAK, INCLUDING THE INNER TOROIDAL FIELD COIL ASSEMBLY, THE OH/PF COILS, AND THE FIRST WALL ASSEMBLY. THE OUTER TF COIL ASSEMBLY AND THE MAIN BLANKET ARE ONLY INFREQUENTLY REPLACED. THIS SCENARIO IS CONSISTANT WITH THE FACT THAT REACTOR INTERNALS ARE REPLACED WHEN A TARGET AMOUNT OF ENERGY HAS BEEN DELIVERED (AT A GIVEN NEUTRON DOSE). PHASE I OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS DIRECTED AT KEY TECHNOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE DTFC; SPECIFICALLY UPGRADING THE REACTOR PERFORMANCE MODEL, CONFIRMING THE NUCLEAR PERFORMANCE, ANALYZING THE TF COIL JOINT AND ANALYZING THE INNER TF COIL - OH INTERFACE.