580 California St., Suite 400
San Francisco, CA, 94104
Key research themes
1. How can fusion-fission hybrid reactors (FFHRs) optimize neutron production and transmutation of nuclear waste?
This research area focuses on the design and optimization of fusion-fission hybrid reactors (FFHRs) that combine fusion neutron sources with subcritical fission blankets to enhance energy generation and nuclear waste transmutation. It matters because FFHRs offer potential safety and fuel efficiency benefits by using fusion neutrons to drive fission in subcritical systems, enabling the destruction of minor actinides and reducing long-lived nuclear waste, while providing a pathway to leverage fusion technology before standalone fusion reactors are commercially viable.
Key finding: Presented an engineering parameter to guide the selection and design of fusion neutron sources for FFHRs, showing that more compact fusion machines require lower fusion gain (Q-values) to achieve high neutron source... Read more
Key finding: Using multi-energy-group neutron transport and burn-up modeling, the study found that while fast neutron fluxes favor actinide transmutation by enhancing fission rates relative to capture, practical operational constraints in... Read more
Key finding: Demonstrated the conceptual feasibility of using a reversed field pinch (RFP) fusion device as a neutron source producing ~50 MW fusion power and high 14.1 MeV neutron flux for driving subcritical fission blankets.... Read more
2. What are the current technological and industrial challenges in realizing commercial fusion energy?
This theme addresses the multifaceted engineering, technological, and industrial difficulties impeding the transition of fusion energy from scientific experiments to commercially viable power generation. Understanding these challenges is vital to accelerate fusion commercialization and integrate fusion within future energy systems, including overcoming plasma heating, tritium fuel cycle management, and energy conversion bottlenecks.
Key finding: Identified critical fusion plant engineering challenges including high-performance plasma heating with gyrotrons, efficient tritium handling and breeding, and power generation integration. Emphasized that addressing... Read more
Key finding: Analyzed four decades of literature expectations showing accelerating optimism regarding fusion realization timelines, with projections increasingly anticipating demonstration of fusion power generation and commercialization... Read more
Key finding: Reviewed nuclear fusion principles and underscored the enormous energy potential from fusion fuel and its fuel abundance. Highlighted the ongoing lack of industrial fusion power application due to technological hurdles,... Read more
3. How are nuclear fission processes modeled and simulated to improve reactor design and safety?
This research theme concentrates on refined modeling and simulation of nuclear fission dynamics, including compound nucleus excitation and fission fragment behavior, to enhance predictive accuracy for reactor design, safety analysis, and waste management strategies. Quantitative models incorporating temperature-dependent potentials, nuclear dissipation, and orientation degrees of freedom improve understanding of fission reaction probabilities and neutron emission.
Key finding: Using a modified statistical model that incorporates temperature-dependent fission barriers and nuclear dissipation, accurately reproduced experimental fission cross sections, neutron multiplicities, and angular anisotropies... Read more