ARC: A compact, high-field, fusion nuclear science facility and demonstration power plant with demountable magnets

TL;DR

ARC is a compact, high-field fusion reactor design featuring demountable magnets, innovative liquid blanket technology, and advanced superconducting coils, aiming to reduce size, cost, and complexity while enabling efficient power generation and material testing.

Contribution

This paper introduces a novel fusion reactor concept with demountable REBCO magnets, a liquid FLiBe blanket, and integrated power plant capabilities, advancing fusion technology and reactor modularity.

Findings

Achieves a high plasma gain of ~13.6 with non-inductive operation.

Utilizes REBCO superconductors for high magnetic fields and demountability.

Supports net electricity generation with efficient heat and neutron management.

Abstract

The affordable, robust, compact (ARC) reactor conceptual design study aims to reduce the size, cost, and complexity of a combined fusion nuclear science facility (FNSF) and demonstration fusion Pilot power plant. ARC is a 200-250 MWe tokamak reactor with a major radius of 3.3 m, a minor radius of 1.1 m, and an on-axis magnetic field of 9.2 T. ARC has rare earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) superconducting toroidal field coils, which have joints to enable disassembly. This allows the vacuum vessel to be replaced quickly, mitigating first wall survivability concerns, and permits a single device to test many vacuum vessel designs and divertor materials. The design point has a plasma fusion gain of Q_p~13.6, yet is fully non-inductive, with a modest bootstrap fraction of only ~63%. Thus ARC offers a high power gain with relatively large external control of the current profile. This highly attractive combination is enabled by the ~23 T peak field on coil with newly available REBCO superconductor technology. External current drive is provided by two innovative inboard RF launchers using 25 MW of lower hybrid and 13.6 MW of ion cyclotron fast wave power. The resulting efficient current drive provides a robust, steady state core plasma far from disruptive limits. ARC uses an all-liquid blanket, consisting of low pressure, slowly flowing fluorine lithium beryllium (FLiBe) molten salt. The liquid blanket is low-risk technology and provides effective neutron moderation and shielding, excellent heat removal, and a tritium breeding ratio >= 1.1. The large temperature range over which FLiBe is liquid permits blanket operation at 900 K with single phase fluid cooling and a high-efficiency Brayton cycle, allowing for net electricity generation when operating ARC as a Pilot power plant.