Fusion Energy Research at Idaho National Laboratory: Experimentation and Simulation to Support Safety and Rapid Technology Development
Abstract: Research into fusion energy is growing rapidly, responding to a call for sustainable sources of energy to replace fossil fuels and mitigate climate change. Within the United States, at least, researchers are also responding to the “Bold Decadal Vision” proposed by the White House, seeking to have a commercially relevant fusion pilot plant deployed within a decade. Before this can become a reality, many Fusion Science & Technology (FS&T) gaps remain. For over 45 years, Idaho National Laboratory has been at the forefront of addressing these FS&T gaps in the context of fusion safety and technology via the operation of world-leading experimental facilities within the Safety and Tritium Applied Research (STAR) Facility. Here, INL focuses on the tritium fuel cycle, conceptual system design studies, risk assessment, waste management, and materials safety. Modeling and Simulation (M&S) has also been a component of this portfolio of research, but, early on, focused on individual systems. Since 2019, active development and research on integrated whole device modeling tools based on the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework has been undertaken. This has culminated in a MOOSE-based version of the Tritium Migration and Analysis Program (TMAP), an INL code historically focused on tritium permeation and trapping within fusion systems. More recently, INL Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds have been used to create the Fusion ENergy Integrated multiphys-X (FENIX) code focused on scrape-off layer plasma physics and the first wall of a magnetically confined fusion device. This talk will focus on an overview of INL activities in the FS&T research area, with a particular focus on recent M&S activities and results.
Bio: Dr. Casey T. Icenhour is a Computational Scientist at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in the Computational Frameworks department, which he joined in 2018 under the INL Graduate Fellows program before converting to technical staff in 2023 after the culmination of his Ph.D. studies in nuclear engineering at North Carolina State University. He obtained a B.S. in electrical engineering from Western Carolina University in 2012. His research areas of interest are focused on multiphysics modeling and simulation using finite element methods, which encompass computational electromagnetics (EM), plasma physics, advanced manufacturing, and fusion energy. As part of the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework development team at INL, Dr. Icenhour created the MOOSE EM physics module to model EM wave propagation in open and plasma-filled domains at microwave frequencies and co-created the MOOSE Application Library for Advanced Manufacturing UTilitiEs (MALAMUTE) to provide predictive multiphysics capability to experimental researchers working in electric field assisted sintering applications. He is software quality assurance (SQA) lead for MOOSE, focused on MOOSE and MOOSE-based applications’ compliance with the Nuclear Quality Assurance Level 1 (NQA-1) standard. In the fusion energy space, he leads the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD)-funded development of MOOSE-based modeling and simulation capabilities for the safety evaluation of superconducting magnets for fusion devices. He is also SQA lead for the MOOSE-based Tritium Migration and Analysis Program, version 8 (TMAP8), as well as plasma physics technical area lead for the LDRD-funded and MOOSE-based Fusion ENergy Integrated multiphys-X (FENIX) framework for the simulation of scrape-off layer physics in magnetic confinement fusion devices. In addition to technical research activities, Dr. Icenhour is dedicated to the professional development of early career researchers at INL as the Professional Development Officer of the INL Early Career Researchers Association for 2024, and he will begin to serve as Vice Chair during 2025.
