Engineering problems of fusion power plants based on system studies

Recent parametric analysis of fusion power plants (FPP) based on various types of hybrid reactors gives the possibility to determine the characteristics of the plants as a whole and of their main systems, being optimum with electricity cost minimum for the energy produced by the HR-NPP complex. It is shown that electricity cost for the tokamak-based FPP complex is 1.2-1.3 times higher than that of a modern NPP and may be the same in the case of NPP fuel cost increase. The main systems parameters, obtained within the parametric analysis, providing relative values of electricity cost, mentioned above, are given in the report for other FPP types. These parameters determine the scale of engineering problems and their solution may permit to construct FPP competitive to a tokamak. The problem anlaysis is made for fusion reactors using closed magnetic traps (stellarators), open traps (tandem mirrors, gas-dynamic, centrifugal, multi-mirror traps) and inertial confinement reactors with target ignition by a laser or charged particle beams. The analysis shows that at present stellarators and tandem mirrors are most attractive for magnetic confinement systems. For inertial confinement systems target ignition by a laser or heavy ion beam may be chosen, when additional data on the required level of the energy delivered to the target is obtained. (author). 14 refs, 2 tabs