Examination of the feasibility of a nuclear-pumped laser-driven inertial confinement fusion reactor with magnetically protected walls. Master's thesis

Technical Report · Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:5313837

Jacobson, J M

A preliminary design study of a nuclear-pumped laser-driven inertial confinement fusion reactor with a magnetically protected first wall using an advanced DT-ignited, DD-fueled pellet demonstrated the feasibility of such a concept. This paper presents a parametric study of the required energy multiplication in the blanket, the pellet injection rate, and the net efficiency of this conceptual reactor for advanced pellet yields. A model of the reactor energy balance yields a required energy multiplication of 2.4. A cylindrical design for a helium-cooled blanket demonstrates that natural uranium micropellets in a laser pump region provide a multiplication of 2.9 with a sub-critical neutron multiplication factor of 0.14. A lithium-oxide layeroutside of the laser pump region provides a tritium breeding ratio of up to 0.4, which is more than sufficient to produce enough tritium for advanced DD-fueled, DT-ignited pellets to fuel the reactor. This paper presents the analysis behind these conclusions and presents avenues for further research on this concept. Nuclear-Pumped laser, Inertial confinement fusion reactor tritium breeding ratio, Fission, Criticality.

• Research Organization: Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (United States)
• OSTI ID: 5313837
• Report Number(s): AD-A-248163/8/XAB; AFIT/GNE/ENP-92M-4
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (M.S.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
LASER FUSION REACTORS
DESIGN
BREEDING BLANKETS
EFFICIENCY
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FISSION
HELIUM
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
INJECTION
LASERS
MULTIPLICATION FACTORS
NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR PUMPING
OXIDES
PELLETS
PUMPS
TRITIUM
URANIUM
WALLS
ACTINIDES
BARYONS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CONFINEMENT
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
FERMIONS
FLUIDS
GASES
HADRONS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
INTAKE
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
METALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
PUMPING
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
700411* - Inertial Confinement Devices- (1992-)