Notice2023-06176
Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source (FPNS)
Primary source
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Published
March 27, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The Office of Science in the Department of Energy (DOE) invites interested parties to provide input on potential technological approaches to meet the needs of the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) program for a Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source (FPNS) and on potential ways to accelerate the construction and delivery of such a facility, including partnerships with the private sector.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 58 (Monday, March 27, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 58 (Monday, March 27, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18130-18131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06176]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source (FPNS)
AGENCY: Office of Science, Department of Energy.
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The Office of Science in the Department of Energy (DOE)
invites interested parties to provide input on potential technological
approaches to meet the needs of the Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
program for a Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source (FPNS) and on potential
ways to accelerate the construction and delivery of such a facility,
including partnerships with the private sector.
DATES: Responses to the RFI must be received by May 11, 2023.
ADDRESSES: DOE is using the <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a> system for the
submission and posting of public comments in this proceeding. All
comments in response to this RFI are therefore to be submitted
electronically through <a href="http://www.regulations.gov">www.regulations.gov</a>, via the web form accessed
by following the ``Submit a Formal Comment'' link.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be submitted to
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7513051b063506161c101b16105b111a105b121a03"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="89eff9e7fac9faeae0ece7eaeca7ede6eca7eee6ff">[email protected]</span></a> or to Daniel Clark at (240) 780-6529.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The scientific and engineering demonstration of fusion energy will
require mastering materials science and performance issues,
particularly those associated with materials degradation due to
bombardment by the energetic (14.1 MeV) deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion
neutrons. This performance degradation provides the basis for and is
one of the single largest inherent limiting factors for the economic,
safety, and environmental attractiveness of fusion energy. As such, the
FES program places a high priority on gaining an improved understanding
of the science of materials degradation due to fusion neutron
bombardment, particularly as it pertains to enabling the development of
next-generation, high-performance materials for future fusion devices.
Managing this fusion neutron-induced property degradation is one of
the most significant scientific ``grand challenges'' facing fusion
energy development. Although considerable progress has been made
exploring the resistance of fusion materials to neutron-based
displacement damage with the use of tools available today, such as
fission test reactors, ion beams, and computer simulation, the current
knowledge base for bulk mechanical and physical property degradation in
a realistic fusion environment with simultaneous transmutation effects
is limited. The requirement to understand 14.1 MeV
neutron[hyphen]induced material degradation underscores the critical
need for a Fusion Prototypic Neutron Source (FPNS), which is aimed at
enabling investigation of the effects of fusion-relevant irradiation on
both microstructural evolution and bulk material properties
degradation.
An FPNS will address the fundamental question of whether materials
retain adequate properties for damage levels greater than 20-50
displacements per atom (dpa) in a fusion neutron environment, and
lifetime limits from an engineering science perspective at higher
levels of irradiation. This will enable the generation of engineering
data that is required to design and deploy commercial fusion devices.
These roles could be addressed in either the same or complementary
irradiation facilities.
The 2020 Long-Range Plan (LRP) \1\ ``Powering the Future: Fusion &
Plasmas'' developed by the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee
(FESAC), included strong support for an FPNS, which was viewed as not
only filling a key gap in the science mission of FES but as an
opportunity to provide world leadership by enabling the fundamental
explorations of fusion nuclear material science. Among the key
recommendations of the LRP was to ``Immediately establish the mission
need for an FPNS facility to support development of new materials
suitable for use in the fusion nuclear environment and pursue design
and construction as soon as possible.''
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\1\ <a href="https://science.osti.gov/-/media/fes/fesac/pdf/2020/202012/FESAC_Report_2020_Powering_the_Future.pdf">https://science.osti.gov/-/media/fes/fesac/pdf/2020/202012/FESAC_Report_2020_Powering_the_Future.pdf</a>.
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In addition, the 2021 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine (NASEM) report, Bringing Fusion to the U.S. Grid,\2\
emphasized the need for materials research and a neutron irradiation
capability to enable a Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP), including facilities
to provide a limited-volume prototypic neutron source for testing of
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advanced structural and functional materials and to assess neutron-
degradation limits of Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic (RAFM)
alloys beyond 5 MW-year m<SUP>-2</SUP>.
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\2\ <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25991/bringing-fusion-to-the-us-grid">https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25991/bringing-fusion-to-the-us-grid</a>.
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In 2022, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) sponsored an
FPNS workshop \3\ at which a strong consensus was reached in support of
an FPNS delivered in 2028 or earlier, that would meet the requirements
provided in Table 1, and that FPNS be designed with sufficient
capability for future upgrade(s) to deliver increased performance
capability by 2032, or earlier, also as shown in Table 1. There
remained a strong consensus that the FPNS neutron spectrum must
introduce appropriate levels of gaseous and solid transmutant
impurities into the tested materials, consistent with the fusion
neutron environment.
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\3\ <a href="https://www.epri.com/research/products/000000003002023917">https://www.epri.com/research/products/000000003002023917</a>.
Table 1--FPNS Performance Requirements Desired by 2028 or Earlier, and
2032 or Earlier
[As indicated in columns 2 and 3, respectively]
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Capability Capability
Parameter requirement by 2028 requirement by 2032
or earlier or earlier
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Damage rate................. 5 to 11 dpa/calendar 15 dpa/calendar year
year (Fe (Fe equivalent).
equivalent).
Spectrum.................... Gaseous and solid Gaseous and solid
transmutant transmutant
generation rates generation rates
consistent with 14 consistent with 14
MeV fusion neutron. MeV fusion neutron.
Sample volume in high flux >=50 cm\3\.......... >=300 cm\3\.
zone.
Temperature range........... ~300 to 1200 [deg]C. ~300 to 1200 [deg]C.
Temperature control......... 3 independently 4 independently
monitored and monitored and
controlled regions. controlled regions.
Flux gradient............... <=20%/cm in the <=20%/cm in the
plane of the sample. plane of the
sample.
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To meet the mission of the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial
Fusion Energy,\4\ the design and demonstration of an FPP must occur
simultaneously with the design and construction of the FPNS. Thus, the
results from an FPNS may not directly impact the design and
construction of the first FPP but will be critical to later iterations
of FPP and eventual licensing of commercial fusion power plants.
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\4\ <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/03/15/fact-sheet-developing-a-bold-vision-for-commercial-fusion-energy/">https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2022/03/15/fact-sheet-developing-a-bold-vision-for-commercial-fusion-energy/</a>.
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Questions for Input
SC is issuing this Request for Information on potential
technological approaches to meet the needs listed in Table 1, and on
potential ways to accelerate the construction and delivery of an FPNS
including public-private partnerships. Of special interest are
approaches leading to a facility under a total capital cost of $500M,
even if meeting this objective would require upfront R&D. Responses
should include discussions of the following topics (limit all responses
to five pages):
<bullet> Technological approach to meeting the performance
requirements in Table 1 (provide the parameters listed in Table 1 that
would be achieved based on projections of your proposed approach);
<bullet> Technical maturity and risks of the concept;
<bullet> Research and development required (with rough cost/
schedule and go/no-go milestones) to increase the technical readiness
level and retire risks such that a final design can be completed;
<bullet> Estimated capital and operating costs;
<bullet> Potential for performing accelerated irradiation studies;
<bullet> Similarity or deviation of neutron irradiation spectrum
relative to prototypic fusion device conditions (be quantitative);
<bullet> Temperature and irradiation flux stability/control;
<bullet> Ability to perform multiple-effect tests (e.g.,
irradiation in the presence of a flowing coolant or in the presence of
complex applied stress fields); and
<bullet> Potential commercial partners, markets, and opportunities
for public-private partnerships in funding and constructing FPNS.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on March 20,
2023, by Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Director, Office of Science, pursuant to
delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. The document with the
original signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative
purposes only, and in compliance with requirements of the Office of the
Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer
has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic
format for publication, as an official document of the Department of
Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal effect
of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-06176 Filed 3-24-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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