Recent developments in IFE safety and tritium research and considerations for future nuclear fusion facilities

Over the past five years, the fusion energy group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has made significant progress in the area of safety and tritium research for Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). Focus has beep driven towards the minimization of inventories, accident safety, development of safety guidelines and licensing considerations. Recent technology developments in tritium processing and target fill have had a major impact on reduction of tritium inventories in the facility. A safety advantage of inertial fusion energy using indirect-drive targets is that the structural materials surrounding the fusion reactions can be protected from target emissions by a low-pressure chamber fill gas, therefore eliminating plasma material erosion as a source of activated dust production. An important inherent safety advantage of IFE when compared to other magnetic fusion energy (MFE) concepts that have been proposed to-date (including ITER), is that loss of plasma control events with the potential to damage the first wall, such as disruptions, are non-conceivable, therefore eliminating a number of potential accident initiators and radioactive in-vessel source term generation. In this paper, we present an overview of the safety assessments performed to-date, comparing results to the US DOE Fusion Safety Standards guidelines and the recent lessons-learnt from ITER safety and licensing activities, and summarize our most recent thoughts on safety and tritium considerations for future nuclear fusion facilities. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.