Inertial fusion with heavy ion beams

Journal Article · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Nucl. Sci. Appl.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5733142

Bock, R; Hofmann, I ^[1]; Arnold, R ^[2]

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1. Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung m.b.H., Darmstadt (Germany, F.R.)
2. Max-Planck-Institut fuer Quantenoptik, Garching (Germany, F.R.)

The underlying principle of inertial confinement is the irradiation of a small pellet filled with DT-fuel by laser or particle beams in order to compress the fuel and ignite it. As 'drivers' for this process large laser installations and light-ion devices have been built since then and the results obtained during the past few years have increased our confidence, that the ignition conditions might be reached. Further conditions, however, have to be fulfilled for operating a power plant. In particular, the driver needs to have enough efficiency to be economical, and for a continuous energy production a high repetition rate and availability is required. It is less than ten years since it was realized that heavy ion beams might be a promising candidate for achieving inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Due to the evolution of high-energy and heavy-ion physics during the past 25 years, accelerators have attained a high technical and technological standard and an excellent operational reliability. Nevertheless, the heavy ion driver for a fusion power plant requires beam specifications exceeding those of existing accelerators considerably.

• OSTI ID: 5733142
• Journal Information: Nucl. Sci. Appl.; (United States), Journal Name: Nucl. Sci. Appl.; (United States) Vol. 2:1; ISSN NSAPD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
700208* -- Fusion Power Plant Technology-- Inertial Confinement Technology
ACCELERATORS
BEAMS
CHARGED PARTICLES
CONFINEMENT
HEAVY ION ACCELERATORS
HEAVY IONS
I-BEAM TYPE REACTORS
IMPACT FUSION DRIVERS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
ION BEAMS
IONS
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
TARGETS
THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION