How To Line a Thermonuclear Reactor

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday August 18, 2012 @04:48AM from the very-carefully dept.

sciencehabit writes "One of the biggest question marks hanging over the ITER fusion reactor project — a giant international collaboration currently under construction in France — is over what material to use for coating its interior wall. After all, the reactor has to withstand temperatures of 100,000C and an intense particle bombardment. Researchers have now answered that question by refitting the current world's largest fusion device, the Joint European Torus (JET) near Oxford, U.K., with a lining akin to the one planned for ITER. JET's new 'ITER-like wall,' a combination of tungsten and beryllium, is eroding more slowly (PDF) and retaining less of the fuel than the lining used on earlier fusion reactors, the team reports."

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A better first wall by Animats · 2012-08-18 04:51 · Score: 5, Informative

This is known as the "first wall" problem in fusion reactors. It's good to hear there's been progress.
It's discouraging to hear how slow progress is on ITER.
Re:Solar by bmo · 2012-08-18 10:00 · Score: 4, Informative

"Nuclear" includes fusion. But consider this: Fusion has been "5 years away" for 40 years.
And it will continue to be "5 years away" for another 40 years. In the meantime, we should be building fission plants based on standard designs. And we should bring back breeder reactors, so we can make more fuel out of used fuel.
But that's not going to happen because of the politics of shrill earth-firsters and others who don't understand nuclear and who think that every nuclear plant is Fukushima or Chernobyl.
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BMO