FUSION | THE PATH TO COMMERCIALISTION
IAEA explores the world of commercial fusion The IAEA has produced its first ‘outlook’ publication on its role in fusion. It reveals some gaps in the legal framework over waste and liability
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been stepping up its fusion activities. The move is a response to a flood of government initiatives and private sector investments. The organisation highlighted government initiatives in the USA and the EU (with additional initiatives in Germany), UK and Japan.
In its publication the IAEA says it wants to address fusion
energy “in a holistic manner, integrating best practices and lessons learned from successful fission energy generating plants”. It notes that it already covers many fusion research and technology strands — including plasma and materials sciences, fundamental fusion process data, regulatory frameworks, licensing, nuclear safety, nuclear waste management, nuclear liability issues, and economic aspects of nuclear fusion facilities – and an IAEA internal cross-cutting Nuclear Fusion Coordination Committee was established in 2019. Now the IAEA says it is accelerating fusion research and
development and it will work together with countries, other organizations and the growing fusion industry to tackle the scientific and technological challenges and help deliver the talent pipeline, nurture the supply chain, establish best knowledge management practices and engage with the public to make fusion energy a reality. Waste is a key issue and although the IAEA notes that waste
from fusion will be very different from fission waste, it says there are lessons to be learned. “All fusion wastes will need to have a planned pathway for disposal prior to generation. As fusion waste will have more short-lived radioactive elements, different strategies can be considered, including new waste form standards, criteria with less emphasis on long term waste form stability, and delay and decay strategies to reduce the overall waste volume and activity”. Fusion waste has less decay heat
generation in the waste and rapid radioactive decay. But “Efforts to recycle and clear are essential for fusion deployment, minimizing the burden associated with radioactive waste for future generations”. Intermediate level waste created during operation may necessitate some level of decay storage, but most wastes would be structural and functional materials. Most challenging is disposing of tritiated components. It says,
“The usual scaling methods based on gamma spectrometry cannot be used for tritium measurement in fusion waste, as correlation of the amounts of tritium with other activated nuclides might not be possible because materials are tritiated by permeation into the materials from other sources. “ Tritium decontamination and recovery techniques that have been developed at the laboratory or pilot scale will need to be demonstrated and commercialized at the process scale. Many low level waste sites, for example, have firm and very low limits on tritium that can be disposed (e.g. 30 ng of T or 107 Bq T/gram of waste). For realistic tritium waste management, these levels may have to be revisited to create a safe disposal location or dedicated tritium management options must be created and implemented.” On safety, it says, peer review “would appear to provide an
effective mechanism for the reporting on the safety of nuclear fusion facilities and the safe management of fusion waste”. Fusion facilities are currently not covered by the definition of a nuclear installation in instruments in the special regime on civil liability for nuclear damage, even though it was modernised in the 1990s. With commercial use far in the future, it was not seen as necessary. Therefore, potential claims related to radiological damage suffered by third parties from fusion activities would have to be dealt with under general tort law, without limitation, and could be brought against the operator and suppliers. ■
research programmes and facilities and £126m (US$156m)
in 2022. Now it plans an additional £650m (US$806m) up to 2027. The new funding was ringfenced for Euratom, and it has been repurposed after the UK left the Euratom programme. Nevertheless the government says the UK “remains very open to collaboration with the EU and other international partners.”
Right:
The UK says it is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the expertise gained from hosting JET at Culham Photo credit: EUROfusion
Evolving strategy The UK says it has established its position in the fusion industry and “it is time to look towards addressing broader sector needs” and look at additional technologies as well as the torus deployed at JET, which has been the main focus of past collaborations. Now, “the global fusion market with specialisms in other fusion technologies such as inertial fusion can provide opportunities for the UK”. It highlights several contrasting projects. They include:
● The STEP programme in Nottinghamshire, which aims to design, develop and build, by 2040, a prototype power plant. The government committed over £240m (US$298m) up to 2024 for the first tranche of STEP and funding will exceed £300m (US$372m) by 2025. It says, STEP is an “ambitious and high-risk programme” that will “play an important role in demonstrating the commercial viability
30 | December 2023 |
www.neimagazine.com
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