INTRODUCTION AND SYNOPSIS OF THE TITAN REVERSED-FIELD-PINCH FUSION-REACTOR STUDY

The TITAN reversed-field-pinch (RFP) fusion-reactor study has two obje ctives: to determine the technical feasibility and key developmental i ssues for an RFP fusion reactor operating at high power density; and t o determine the potential economic (cost of electricity), operational (maintenance and availability), safety and environmental features of h igh mass-power-density fusion-reactor systems. Mass power density (MPD ) is defined as the ratio of net electric output to the mass of the fu sion power core (FPC). The FPC includes the plasma chamber, first wall , blanket, shield, magnets, and related structure. Two different detai led designs TITAN-I and TITAN-II, have been produced to demonstrate th e possibility of multiple engineering-design approaches to high-MPD re actors. TITAN-I is a self-cooled lithium design with a vanadium-alloy structure. TITAN-II is a self-cooled aqueous loop-in-pool design with 9-C ferritic steel as the structural material. Both designs use RFP pl asmas operating with essentially the same parameters. Both conceptual reactors are based on the DT fuel cycle, have a net electric output of about 1000 MWe, are compact, and have a high MPD of 800 kWe per tonne of FPC. The inherent physical characteristics of the RFP confinement concept make possible compact fusion reactors with such a high MPD. Th e TITAN designs would meet the U.S. criteria for the near-surface disp osal of radioactive waste (Class C, 10CFR61) and would achieve a high Level of Safety Assurance with respect to FPC damage by decay afterhea t and