Prospects for the Use of Atmospheric Optical Communication at Nuclear and Fusion Facilities

Abstract

An analysis of the prospects for the use of atmospheric optical communication lines at industrial nuclear energy installations, including thermonuclear (fusion) reactors and energy facilities with on-site fuel reprocessing plants, was carried out. It is shown that modern atmospheric communication terminals make it possible to implement high-speed data exchange within the perimeter of energy complexes, as well as to provide an external backup communication channel protected by use of quantum key distribution technology. The absence of the need to lay special cables through limited-access areas to organize high-speed data transmission provides a significant advantage of atmospheric communication systems over any wired communication systems. A methodology is presented for assessing the feasibility of using atmospheric optical communications at nuclear facilities, and based on long-term meteorological observations in the area where ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is located, graphs of the availability of atmospheric communications are constructed. The high prospects of using atmospheric laser communication at nuclear and fusion facilities are shown.

Keywords:

• Fusion reactor
• free space optical communication
• communication line availability factor
• nuclear installation safety
• quantum key distribution

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the agreement between JSC Russian Railways and PJSC Rostelecom dated October 31, 2022, number DK TsKK-226719.