ADVANCED FUSION TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY OCTOBER 1, 1998 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30, 1999

OAK-B135 The General Atomics (GA) Advanced Fusion Technology program seeks to advance the knowledge base needed for next-generation fusion experiments, and ultimately for an economical and environmentally attractive fusion energy source. To achieve this objective, they carry out fusion systems design studies to evaluate the technologies and materials needed for next-step experiments and power plants, and they conduct research to develop basic and applied knowledge about these materials and technologies. GA's Advanced Fusion Technology program derives from, and draws on, the physics and engineering expertise built up by many years of experience in designing, building, and operating plasma physics experiments. The technology development activities take full advantage of the current DIII-D program and facility. The following sections summarize GA's FY99 work done in the areas of Fusion Power Plant Design Studies (Section 2), Advanced Liquid Plasma Facing Surfaces (Section 3), Advanced Power Extraction Study (Section 4), Next Step Fusion Design (Section 5), Plasma Interactive Materials (Section 6), Radiation Testing of Magnetic Coil (Section 7), Vanadium Component Demo (Section 8), RF Technology (Section 9) and Inertial Fusion Energy Target Supply System (Section 10). The work in these areas continues to address many of the issues that must be resolved for the successful construction and operation of next-generation experiments and, ultimately, the development of safe, reliable, economic fusion power plants