Goals, challenges, and successes of managing fusion activated materials

El-Guebaly, L. A.*; Massaut, V.*; Tobita, Kenji; Cadwallader, L.*

After decades of designing fusion power plants, it is timely to develop a new framework for managing the activated materials that will be generated during plant operation and after decommissioning. This will clearly demonstrate that scientists developing fusion processes and facilities will be dealing with the back end from the beginning of the conceptual design of power plants. It is becoming evident that future regulations for geological burial will be upgraded to assure tighter environmental controls. Beginning in the mid 1980s and continuing to the present, numerous fusion designs examined replacing the disposal option with more environmentally attractive approaches, redirecting their attention to recycling and clearance while continuing the development of materials with low activation potential.