Rosatom Science Institute prepares infrastructure for future fusion reactor prototype

Representatives of SSC RF TRINITI JSC (a part of ROSATOM Science Division - JSC "Science and Innovations") told about this at a meeting of "Engineering and Technical Issues of Controlled Nuclear Fusion (CNF)" section of Science and Technology Council No. 6 of ROSATOM in Zvenigorod in late March.

Representatives of NIIEFA JSC, NIKIET JSC, ITER Project Center, FSUE RFNC VNIIEF, SSC TRINITI JSC, Kurchatov Institute, Institute of Nuclear Physics of RAS Siberia branch, Physics and Technology Institute of RAS, RAS Institute of Applied Physics, VNIIKP, Krasnaya Zvezda JSC, VNIINM JSC, STC FGC UESJSC , NRNU MEPhI, ROSATOM took part in the event.

The participants discussed the implementation of the federal project "Development of Controlled Fusion Technologies and Innovative Plasma Technologies" which is numbered 3 in the complex program "Development of Engineering, Technologies and Scientific Research in the Use of Nuclear Energy in the Russian Federation until 2024" (DETSR CP).

Managers of TRINITI, one of the key implementers of the federal project No. 3 of DETSR CP, presented interim results of the project to build the infrastructure for a reactor technology tokamak. A new pilot plant will be built in Troitsk by 2030. "The project is implemented in two stages: Stage one is modernization of the energy infrastructure, stage two is modernization of the engineering infrastructure, and tokamak development. The work on both phases has started almost simultaneously. At the end of 2021, we received a favorable conclusion of the state expert review for the design documentation of the first stage of strong field tokamak fusion complex modernization. Detailed documentation was also developed at the end of the year. In March, clearing of the area for the future construction site started. Now we are laying temporary roads and arranging utilities," said Aleksandr Romannikov, Academic Advisor for controlled nuclear fusion and plasma technologies at TRINITI SSC.

"It is already clear that the organizations involved in the third federal project have taken a good pace and moved from the design and planning stage to the active implementation stage. Close cooperation between ROSATOM and other stakeholders in the federal project is essential for the successful implementation of DETSR CP," said Kirill Ilyin, Deputy Director General for the Implementation of Comprehensive Program for Nuclear Science, Technology and Engineering Development.

During the meeting, the participants also reviewed issues and proposals for the development and application of high-temperature superconducting conductors for electromagnetic systems, an integral part of next generation controlled nuclear fusion installations.

For reference:

ROSATOM Science and Technology Council is a standing advisory body established pursuant to Federal Law No. 317-FZ On Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation dated December 01, 2007 for the purpose of scientific-methodological, information-analytical and expert support of ROSATOM activities. ROSATOM Science and Technology Council includes 12 discipline-related STCs.

A tokamak with reactor technology (TRT) is being developed as a full-scale prototype of a future fusion reactor/neutron source. It is designed to study plasma behavior in quasi-stationary modes close to ignition, to study and practice various methods of plasma additional heating, fuel supply, blanket technologies, to develop new diagnostics operating in high neutron fluxes, to master tritium technology. The project was developed as part of the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Engineering, Technology and Scientific Research in the Use of Nuclear Energy in the Russian Federation until 2024. In 2021, conceptual design of TRT components and the development of diagnostic equipment was commenced. By the end of 2024, TRINITI is going to complete the first stage of fusion complex modernization, which is necessary to create the energy infrastructure of the future facility, i.e. TRT tokamak.

Photo source: RIA Novosti, Aleksey Kudenko