Cost assessment of a generic magnetic fusion reactor

Journal Article · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Fusion Technol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.13182/FST9-2-199· OSTI ID:5791362

Sheffield, J; Dory, R A; Cohn, S M; Delene, J G; Parsly, L; Ashby, D E.T.F.; Reiersen, W T

A generic reactor model is used to examine the economic viability of electricity generation by magnetic fusion. The simple model uses components that are representative of those used in previous reactor studies of deuterium-tritium burning tokamaks, stellarators, Bumpy Tori, reversed-field pinches, and tandem mirrors. Conservative costing assumptions are made. The generic reactor is not a tokamak but rather it is intended to emphasize what is common to all magnetic fusion reactors. The reactor uses a superconducting toroidal coil set to produce the dominant magnetic field. To this extent, it is not as good an approximation to systems, such as the reversed-field pinch, in which the main field is produced by a plasma current. The main output of the study is the cost of electricity as a function of the weight and size of the fusion core - blanket, shield, structure, and coils. The model shows that a 1200-MW (electric) power plant with a fusion core weight of approx. = 10,000 tonnes should be competitive in the future with fission and fossil plants. Sensitivity studies that vary the assumptions show that this result is not sensitively dependent on any given assumption. Of particular importance is the result that this scale of fusion reactor may be realized with only moderate advances in physics and technology capabilities.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box Y, Oak Ridge, TN 37831
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5791362
• Journal Information: Fusion Technol.; (United States), Journal Name: Fusion Technol.; (United States) Vol. 9:2; ISSN FUSTE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700200* -- Fusion Energy-- Fusion Power Plant Technology
BREEDING BLANKETS
COST ESTIMATION
CURRENTS
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
ELECTROMAGNETS
EQUIPMENT
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETS
PINCH EFFECT
POWER GENERATION
POWER PLANTS
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REVERSE-FIELD PINCH
SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
SHIELDS
SIZE
STRUCTURAL MODELS
SUPERCONDUCTING DEVICES
SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS
THERMONUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
WEIGHT