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Title: Modeling an unmitigated thermal quench event in a large field magnet in a DEMO reactor

Abstract

The superconducting magnet systems of future fusion reactors, such as a Demonstration Power Plant (DEMO), will produce magnetic field energies in the 10 s of GJ range. The release of this energy during a fault condition could produce arcs that can damage the magnets of these systems. The public safety consequences of such events must be explored for a DEMO reactor because the magnets are located near the DEMO's primary radioactive confinement barrier, the reactor's vacuum vessel (VV). Great care will be taken in the design of DEMO's magnet systems to detect and provide a rapid field energy dump to avoid any accidents conditions. During an event when a fault condition proceeds undetected, the potential of producing melting of the magnet exists. If molten material from the magnet impinges on the walls of the VV, these walls could fail, resulting in a pathway for release of radioactive material from the VV. A model is under development at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) called MAGARC to investigate the consequences of this accident in a large toroidal field (TF) coil. Recent improvements to this model are described in this paper, along with predictions for a DEMO relevant event in a toroidal field magnet.

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
OSTI Identifier:
1193685
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1467758
Report Number(s):
INL/JOU-15-33174
Journal ID: ISSN 0920-3796; PII: S0920379615001659; TRN: US1500532
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC07-05ID14517
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Fusion Engineering and Design
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 98-99; Conference: 28. Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT-28), San Sebastian (Spain), 29 Sep - 3 Oct 2014; Journal ID: ISSN 0920-3796
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; fusion safety; unmitigated quench; magnet accident

Citation Formats

Merrill, Brad J. Modeling an unmitigated thermal quench event in a large field magnet in a DEMO reactor. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.03.007.
Merrill, Brad J. Modeling an unmitigated thermal quench event in a large field magnet in a DEMO reactor. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.03.007
Merrill, Brad J. 2015. "Modeling an unmitigated thermal quench event in a large field magnet in a DEMO reactor". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.03.007. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1193685.
@article{osti_1193685,
title = {Modeling an unmitigated thermal quench event in a large field magnet in a DEMO reactor},
author = {Merrill, Brad J.},
abstractNote = {The superconducting magnet systems of future fusion reactors, such as a Demonstration Power Plant (DEMO), will produce magnetic field energies in the 10 s of GJ range. The release of this energy during a fault condition could produce arcs that can damage the magnets of these systems. The public safety consequences of such events must be explored for a DEMO reactor because the magnets are located near the DEMO's primary radioactive confinement barrier, the reactor's vacuum vessel (VV). Great care will be taken in the design of DEMO's magnet systems to detect and provide a rapid field energy dump to avoid any accidents conditions. During an event when a fault condition proceeds undetected, the potential of producing melting of the magnet exists. If molten material from the magnet impinges on the walls of the VV, these walls could fail, resulting in a pathway for release of radioactive material from the VV. A model is under development at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) called MAGARC to investigate the consequences of this accident in a large toroidal field (TF) coil. Recent improvements to this model are described in this paper, along with predictions for a DEMO relevant event in a toroidal field magnet.},
doi = {10.1016/j.fusengdes.2015.03.007},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1193685}, journal = {Fusion Engineering and Design},
issn = {0920-3796},
number = ,
volume = 98-99,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Wed Mar 25 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}