| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2023 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Composite Materials for Nuclear Applications II
|
| Presentation Title |
ENHANCED Shield: A Critical Materials Technology Enabling Compact Superconducting Tokamaks |
| Author(s) |
David Sprouster, B Cheng, J Trelewicz, G Khose, E Peterson, S Zinkle, Lance Snead |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
David Sprouster |
| Abstract Scope |
With significant improvement in High Temperature Superconductors (HTS), a number of projects are adopting HTS for power systems. Compact HTS tokamaks offer advantages including lower plant costs and lower cost of electricity. As compact reactors have less space for shielding, HTS degradation is potentially design limiting. Shielding must mitigate threats to the superconducting coils. Unfortunately, there are currently no hi-performance shielding materials to enable the potential performance enhancement offered by HTS. We present an advanced manufacturing method to fabricate a new class of shields that are high-performance, high-operating temperature, and simultaneously neutron absorbing. The designs consist of an entrained metal-hydride phase within a radiation stable ceramic host. We present fabrication, characterization, and thermophysical data for a series of down selected composites inspired by future fusion designs and performance metrics. This work was performed under the auspices of the ARPA-E Galvanizing Advances in Market-Aligned Fusion for an Overabundance of Watts program. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Ceramics, Composites |