A deuterium-tritium ignition ramp for an advanced fuel field-reversed configuration reactor
The possibility of using small initial charges of tritium and /sup 3/He to boost a deuterium field-reversed configuration (FRC) up to temperatures at which deuterium-deuterium (D-D) ignition can take place is examined. A computer program is used to track the rates of production, reaction, and leakage of the FRC plasma's isotopic constituents as the burn progresses and the FRC's temperature, density, and volume vary. On the basis of these studies and current scaling laws, a highly attractive advanced fuel FRC reactor is outlined. It is cylindrical, 12 m long, and 3.2 m in coil outer radius, and produces 1568 MW(electric), giving it an effective core power/volume ratio as great as a pressurized water reactor. No lithium blanket is required, as the tritium needed for startup can be bred by the D-D reactions themselves.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Washington, Dept. of Nuclear Eng., Seattle, WA 98195
- OSTI ID:
- 6138023
- Journal Information:
- Fusion Technol.; (United States), Vol. 9:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
D-T REACTORS
DESIGN
MAGNETIC FIELD REVERSAL
THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION
COMPUTER CALCULATIONS
DEUTERIUM
DEUTERON REACTIONS
HELIUM 3
IGNITION SYSTEMS
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA PRODUCTION
REACTOR START-UP
SCALING LAWS
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
TRITIUM
VOLUME
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHARGED-PARTICLE REACTIONS
CONTROL
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HELIUM ISOTOPES
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MAGNETIC FIELD CONFIGURATIONS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ODD-ODD NUCLEI
OPERATION
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR OPERATION
STABLE ISOTOPES
START-UP
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
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