Inertial electrostatic confinement I(IEC) neutron sources

Conference · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:155801

Nebel, R A; Barnes, D C; Caramana, E J; Janssen, R D; Nystrom, W D; Tiouririne, T N; Trent, B C ^[1]; Miley, G H; Javedani, J ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
2. Illinois Univ., Urbana, IL (United States)

Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) is one of the earliest plasma confinement concepts, having first been suggested by P.T. Farnsworth in the 1950s. The concept involves a simple apparatus of concentric spherical electrostatic grids or a combination of grids and magnetic fields. An electrostatic structure is formed from the confluence of electron or ion beams. Gridded IEC systems have demonstrated neutron yields as high as 2*10 [10]. neutrons/sec in steady state. These systems have considerable potential as small, inexpensive, portable neutron sources for assaying applications. Neutron tomography is also a potential application. This paper discusses the IEC concept and how it can be adapted to a steady-state assaying source and an intense pulsed neutron source. Theoretical modeling and experimental results are presented.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 155801
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--95-3490; CONF-9510239--3; ON: DE96002599
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
DESIGN
ELECTROSTATICS
EVALUATION
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
NEUTRON SOURCES
SPECIFICATIONS