IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS

Patent · Wed Oct 12 04:00:00 EDT 1960

OSTI ID:4119477

Hancox, R

A thermonuclear reactor of the pinched discharge type can be designed so that the temperature gradient in the heat-absorbing sunface is kept low by constructing it from beryllium, which is more transparent to x rays and bremsstrahlung than other materials. For example, at a plasma temperature of 5 x lO/sup 8/ deg K, beryllium walls of thickness 1, 2, 5, and 10 mm absorb only 16, 22, 33, and 45% of the incident radiation, respectively, and the gradient remains approximately the same for specific beryllium walls in the range lO/sup 8/ to lO/ sup 9/ deg K. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, coolant-carrying beryllium tabes are coiled around the pinch discharge. Another advantage of using beryllium is that if it should vaporize, the poisoning effect on the plasma would not be as serious as with materials of higher atomic number, since the increase in bremsstrahlung is not as great. (D.L.C.)

• Research Organization: Originating Research Org. not identified
• NSA Number: NSA-15-003569
• OSTI ID: 4119477
• Report Number(s): GB 851148
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ABSORPTION
BERYLLIUM
BREMSSTRAHLUNG
COILS
COOLANTS
PHYSICS
PINCH
PLANNING
POISONING
TEMPERATURE
THERMONUCLEAR DEVICES
X RADIATION