Safety and environmental considerations in the selection of fusion power plant design options

The neutron shielding provided by in-vessel components of a fusion power plant has an important influence on the safety and environmental performance. A number of issues related to the in-vessel shield design have been investigated, with a focus on waste minimization. Viable concepts have been identified to solve the conflict between low short-term decay heat and low long-term waste requirements, and for shields avoiding water coolant in plant designs employing beryllium neutron multiplier.