Safety in the Design of Three Burning Plasma Experiments

The 2002 Snowmass Fusion Energy Sciences Summer Study required a uniform assessment of the safety design goals for three candidate burning plasma experiments: the Fusion Ignition Research Experiment (FIRE), the IGNITOR compact tokamak, and the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). The main assessment criterion was an objective judgment of each design's ability to obtain a generalized regulatory approval. A brief overview of environmental impact, safety, and health results from the uniform assessment of safety are given in this paper. As safety documentation was reviewed for each design, several issues became apparent. This paper also documents these specific issues. Each of these three designs could obtain a general regulatory approval based on their safety design practices.