The ARIES-III D-3He tokamak reactor: design-point determination and parametric studies

The ARIES-III design uses a D-³He fuel cycle and requires advances in technology and physics for economical attractiveness. The optimal design was characterized through systems analysis for eventual conceptual engineering design. Results from the systems analysis are summarized, and a comparison with the high-field, D-T-fueled ARIES-I is included. Both first- and second-stability-region (SSR) options were considered for ARIES-III. SSR design, based on limited experimental results, outperformed the first-stability-region design by a wide margin. Even with full cost credits for safety (level of safety assurance, LSA=1 represents a 25-30% cost credit relative to LSA=4), the SSR ARIES-III is only marginally competitive with median-experience fission power plants and is far from competitive with best-experience fission power plants. The application of the SSR physics to the D-T fuel cycle, however, is expected to produce an ARIES design that is competitive with fissile and fossil power plants