Speaker: Drs. Brenda Garcia-Diaz & George Larsen, Savannah River National Lab
Title: Fusion Fuel Cycle Technology Development at SRNL
Abstract:
The tritium fuel cycle is integral to all proposed commercial fusion power plants, but tritium is difficult and costly to process, purify, and enrich. Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has over 70 years of experience in the processing and handling or tritium and is leveraging this expertise for tritium processing for commercial fusion power. SRNL has a robust research program applying its technology portfolio in isotope separation, hydrogen purification, tritium vacuum pumping, impurity removal, tritium effects on materials, and the modeling of tritium retention in process systems to fusion power systems. SRNL is also leveraging the expertise from leading the design and fabrication of the ITER Tokamak Exhaust Processing (TEP) system as well as experience designing and analyzing an IFE fuel cycle for the LIFE project. Here, we will provide an overview SRNL’s fusion research programs including the new Fuel Cycle (FC) Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) Collaborative that will addresses critical challenges in tritium management for commercial fusion energy systems. The FC FIRE Collaborative aims to deliver scalable, economically viable fuel cycle solutions to accelerate fusion energy’s transition to commercialization while addressing regulatory and societal acceptance challenges. This work directly supports the commercialization of fusion energy, emphasizing safety, efficiency, and innovation in tritium fuel cycle technologies.
Bio - Dr. Garcia-Diaz:
Dr. Garcia-Diaz served as a committee member on the 2021 National Academy of Science report entitled “Bringing Fusion to the US Grid” and is a member of the DOE Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee (FESAC). She has been part of the FESAC subcommittee helping to develop a decadal plan for fusion energy research and commercialization. She is also the Director of the Fuel Cycle FIRE Collaborative that is developing innovative fuel cycle technologies, developing the fuel cycle workforce, and coordinating fuel cycle development efforts with companies throughout the fusion industry and the fuel cycle supply chain. She worked with community partners to develop research objectives that can help guide Fuel Cycle and Blanket development toward commercialization.
Brenda has worked with SRNL since 2007. She creates and leads dynamic teams that find solutions to clean energy challenges such as fusion energy, concentrating solar power (CSP) corrosion, and accident tolerant fuel (ATF) development.
Bio - Dr. Larsen:
George Larsen is the Innovation Lead for Fusion Energy at SRNL. He is the Deputy Director for the Fuel Cycle FIRE (FC FIRE) Collaborative at SRNL and the PI on multiple research projects funded by both FES and directly by companies. He has patented technologies related to fusion energy such as the HyPOR Loop process to detritiate vacuum pump oil which he led an ARPA-E GAMOW project on to develop the technology. He led an LDRD project that developed record breaking hydrogen sensors and was awarded the Most Valuable Project award. He also participated in the DOE i-Corps Program to investigate commercialization of advanced hydrogen isotope exchange catalysts and processes.
Seminar Access: In-person seminars are only available to CU ID holders. Non-Columbia affiliates can contact [email protected] if you'd like the seminar Zoom link.
