This article outlines Kyoto Fusioneering's (KF's) initial engineering and development activities for its self-cooled lithium lead-type blanket: Self-Cooled Yuryo Lithium-Lead Advanced (SCYLLA©). We provide details on overall design, including an initial tritium breeding ratio (TBR) assessment via neutronics analysis, as well as the status of SCYLLA©-relevant R&D. This includes silicon carbide composite (SiC f /SiC) manufacturing techniques, tritium extraction, materials compatibility, and heat transfer, which are being explored via collaboration with Kyoto University. Results of previous work in relation to this R&D are presented. Permeability coefficients indicate a promising property of SiC f /SiC tritium hermeticity at high temperatures. Tritium extraction technology via vacuum sieve tray (VST) is shown to be demonstrated at engineering scale. A local TBR of up to 1.4 can be achieved with the SCYLLA© configuration. Fabrication methods for various SiC f /SiC components including the blanket module, heat exchanger, and flow path components are provided. A tritium compatible high-temperature SiC f /SiC heat exchanger is discussed. Commercial viability and reactor adaptability are considered as a theme throughout. Finally, KF's plans to build a facility for demonstration reactor relevant testing of a SCYLLA© prototype in the mid-2020s, which will provide a significant step toward commercial fusion energy, are presented.
Making fusion power viable both technologically and commercially has been a challenge for decades due to the great complexity of the science and engineering challenges. In recent years, changes in both government policies and the emergence of private fusion companies have ushered a newfound push to accelerate fusion energy development. Kyoto Fusioneering (KF) is a privately funded fusion engineering start-up, founded to accelerate the development of high performance, commercially viable technologies that will be required for a fusion power plant, specifically those associated with heating and current drive systems, power generation, and the tritium fuel cycle. The company is focused on supporting the rapid expansion of the budding fusion industry. This paper provides a high-level description of some of the technical and industrial challenges it is tackling in developing a commercial fusion reactor, in particular in relation to: plasma heating with gyrotrons, tritium handling and breeding, energy conversion, and fusion materials. It provides an overview of KF's activities in finding solutions to challenges in each of these areas, including via its new testing facility now under construction, UNITY (Unique Integrated Testing Facility). KF’s core capabilities and areas of R&D focus are discussed, with reference to how they benefit the development of a new fusion industry as a whole and bring the technology closer to industrialisation, including via UNITY and through collaboration with external partners. The importance of industrialisation and subsequently commercialisation is also discussed, through KF’s assessment of the newly emerging fusion ecosystem, and where KF as a company sits within it.
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