Safety and Environmental Aspects of Fusion Energy

July 31, 2013
ME Auditorium
1200

Dr. Susana Reyes

Leader Tritium Systems & Licensing
Laser Inertial Fusion Energy
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Abstract

Many people believe that fusion will provide humanity with limitless energy, without any of the environmental liabilities associated with fission power. However, these plants will also involve the safe handling and storage of nuclear fuel, in this case isotopes of hydrogen. This seminar will focus on the practical issues associated with the safe handling of significant quantities of tritium in future fusion power plants.

Biography

Dr. Susana Reyes is a nuclear engineer at LLNL, with over 13 years of experience in international fusion projects. She is currently leading the LIFE effort for licensing and tritium systems. She earned an M.Sci. in Power Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in 1998 and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the UNED University in Madrid in 2001. Dr. Reyes then joined LLNL's Fusion Energy Program to work on the safety analysis of inertial fusion energy power plant designs. Since then, she has worked in a variety of fusion research projects, such as the U.S. ITER Test Blanket Module program, for the testing of tritium breeding blanket concepts within the ITER facility. She has also been strongly involved in neutronics and materials damage simulations at LLNL in support of high-energy accelerators and of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). From 2006 until early 2010, Dr. Reyes took a leave of absence from LLNL in order to join the ITER Organization in Cadarache, France, working on ITER licensing. Dr. Reyes is the current vice-chair/chair-elect of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Fusion Energy Division, and is also a member of the ANS Northern California chapter Executive Committee. She is the recipient of the ANS 2012 Mary Jane Oestmann Professional Women's Achievement Award.

POC

Dr. Daniel A. Nussbaum
Naval Postgraduate School 
Principal, Energy Academic Group
Monterey CA 93943
Phone: 831-656-2387
Mobile: 831-324-3228
Email: dnussbaum@nps.edu