Progress in Commercial Magnetic Fusion Energy Reactor Designs

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Abstract
Two decades of fusion reactor conceptual design have led to a clearer definition of an “attractive” fusion power plant. Recent advances in commercial reactor designs have pushed in the direction of smaller, more compact systems while stressing material and configurational choices that amplify safety and environmental (S&E) advantages (e.g., inherent or passive safety and significantly reduced long-term radioactive waste). When intelligently amalgamated, compactness and favorable S&E characteristics can enable fusion power to be competitive. The history of fusion reactor conceptual design, the constituents of an attractive fusion end product, and recent progress in fusion reactor studies as embodied in the TITAN reversed-field pinch and the more recent and ongoing Advanced Reactor Innovations and Evaluation Study (ARIES) advanced tokamak reactor designs, are reviewed. The future for magnetic fusion energy can be bright if the right physics, technology, and materials research and development (R&D) choices are made now. An important ingredient in this “right choice” is design simplification and subsystem combination to achieve requisite levels of reliability and ease of maintenance, while ensuring competitive energy costs and acceptable S&E features. Significant departures from the “conventional” (i.e., the current R&D direction) tokamak physics embodiment are required to achieve these goals.