TechnoFusión: Difference between revisions

It is not yet decided what materials will be used to construct future fusion reactors, partly because it has not yet been possible to reproduce the extreme conditions to which such materials will be subjected. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to dispose of installations capable of manufacturing new materials on a semi-industrial scale and fabricating prototypes. Top priority materials include metals such as reinforced low activation ODS type steels (Oxide Dispersion Strengthened steels) and tungsten alloys. To manufacture such materials, equipment is required that currently is scarce or inexistent in Spain, such as a Vacuum Induction Furnace (VIM), a Hot Isostatic Pressing Furnace (HIP), a Furnace for Sintering assisted by a Pulsed Plasma Current (SPS), or a Vacuum Plasma Projection System (VPS).

Of course, exact reactor conditions are only reproduced inside an actual reactor. Even so, it is possible to simulate the effects of neutrons and gamma radiation on materials by irradiating with ions and electrons. The effect of neutron radiation will be simulated by combining three ion accelerators: one light ion accelerator of the tandem type for irradiating with He, with an energy of 6 MV, one light ion accelerator of the tandem type for irradiating with H (or D), with an energy of 5-6 MV, and a heavy ion accelerator of the cyclotron type, with k = 110, to implant heavy ions (Fe, W, Si, C) or high energy protons. In addition, a high field magnet (5-10 T) will be used to study the simultaneous effect of irradiation and magnetic fields on materials. The effect of ionizing gamma radiation will be simulated by an electron accelerator of the Rhodotron type with a fixed energy of 10 MeV, which will be shared with other areas of the Centre.  

Inside a future fusion reactor, some materials will not only be subjected to radiation, but also to enormous heat loads due to their direct contact with the plasma. In view of this, not only must stationary conditions of high density, low temperature and high power be reproduced, but also violent transient events (known as ELMs in plasma physics literature). Therefore, two plasma generation devices are planned: one is a linear plasma device, meant to reproduce the cited stationary conditions, and the other is a QSPA (Quasi-Stationary Plasma Accelerator) to simulate the transients. Both devices will be able to work with H, D, He and Ar.  

Various components of [[ITER]] and [[IFMIF]], and eventually future fusion reactors, will be based on the use of liquid metals, so that the associated technology is increasingly relevant. Much is still to be learned about their application as refrigerants, tritium generators, or neutron reproducers or moderators under extreme conditions. The experimental area will dispose of various liquid lithium loops, connected to the electron accelerator. The main goals are the study of the free surface of liquid metals when subjected to internal energy deposition, and the compatibility of structural materials with the liquid metal in the presence of radiation. In addition, it will be possible to study the influence of magnetic fields on the cited phenomena and to develop methods for the purification of the liquid metal, lithium enrichment, tritium extraction, and safety protocols for handling liquid metal.