Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor decontamination and decommissioning project and the Tokamak Physics Experiment at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. Environmental Assessment

摘要

If the US is to meet the energy needs of the future, it is essential that new technologies emerge to compensate for dwindling supplies of fossil fuels and the eventual depletion of fissionable uranium used in present-day nuclear reactors. Fusion energy has the potential to become a major source of energy for the future. Power from fusion energy would provide a substantially reduced environmental impact as compared with other forms of energy generation. Since fusion utilizes no fossil fuels, there would be no release of chemical combustion products to the atmosphere. Additionally, there are no fission products formed to present handling and disposal problems, and runaway fuel reactions are impossible due to the small amounts of deuterium and tritium present. The purpose of the TPX Project is to support the development of the physics and technology to extend tokamak operation into the continuously operating (steady-state) regime, and to demonstrate advances in fundamental tokamak performance. The purpose of TFTR D&D is to ensure compliance with DOE Order 5820.2A ''Radioactive Waste Management'' and to remove environmental and health hazards posed by the TFTR in a non-operational mode. There are two proposed actions evaluated in this environmental assessment (EA). The actions are related because one must take place before the other can proceed. The proposed actions assessed in this EA are: the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR); to be followed by the construction and operation of the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX). Both of these proposed actions would take place primarily within the TFTR Test Cell Complex at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The TFTR is located on ''D-site'' at the James Forrestal Campus of Princeton University in Plainsboro Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and is operated by PPPL under contract with the United States Department of Energy (DOE).