The. beta. -heating redistribution of DT (deuterium-tritium) solid fuel in glass shells
Recent laboratory observations have confirmed that the energy from ..beta..-heating is sufficient to redistribution DT fuel in Inertial Confinement Fusion, ICF, shells when the shell is held within an isothermal container. There are several steps that now must be taken in the development of this technology. We know that the presence of He/sup 3/ within the interior of the shell will impede the redistribution of the DT. Therefore, the rates at which a DT fuel layer becomes uniform must be experimentally established. To allow target designers to evaluate various options, we need to experimentally determine the limits on the fuel layers uniformity. In addition, to consider realistic hardware systems that can produce these targets, we need to establish the effects that a non-isothermal environment will have on the fuel layer uniformity. To address some of these questions, KMS Fusion has designed and constructed an experimental system that provides an isothermal environment from the shell, and allows the fuel layer uniformity to be documented. Preliminary experiments using this system demonstrate that there are several options for using ..beta..-decay heat to produce a uniform solid fuel layer. These experiments indicate that slowly cooling the shell through the triple points of the DT fuel mixture results in a significant increase in the uniformity of the initial solid layer. 8 refs., 7 figs.
- Research Organization:
- KMS Fusion, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC08-87DP10560
- OSTI ID:
- 7135420
- Report Number(s):
- KMSF-U-1994; CONF-8806170-8; ON: DE88013017
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 6. target fabrication specialist's meeting, Los Alamos, NM, USA, 19 Jun 1988; Other Information: Paper copy only, copy does not permit microfiche production
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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