Cooling of DT and T/sub 2/ cryogenic pellets within very low density plastics and by helium

Technical Report · Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6308385· OSTI ID:6308385

Devaney, J J

We have established previously that typical DT pellets cannot be kept solid with external cooling through pure vacuum, and can only be maintained solid within DT gas-filled spaces over a limited range of cooling temperatures. This report examines whether low-density (0.01 g/cm/sup 3/ or 0.05 g/cm/sup 3/) polyethylene foam or helium gas have sufficient conductivity to allow inner tritium-containing shells to be kept solid. For both conductors the answer is affirmative, but some uncertainty exists concerning the conductivity of foams and the worst excursions might not provide enough conductivity. For helium much less than one millitorr pressure suffices for cooling typical pellets. For cooling the same nuclear fuel concentrated in the form of a central ball, the lightest foams are marginal but might be satisfactory at the highest excursion of our conductivity error. Required helium pressures for ball cooling are in the region of a millitorr. A simple model for the ratio of foam to solid conductivity of a substance is developed.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6308385
• Report Number(s): LA-7790-MS; TRN: 79-013623
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
LASER TARGETS
COOLING
DEUTERIUM TRITIDES
FUEL PELLETS
HELIUM
POLYETHYLENES
THERMAL CONDUCTION
THERMONUCLEAR FUELS
TRITIUM
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DEUTERIUM COMPOUNDS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY TRANSFER
FLUIDS
FUELS
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
LIGHT NUCLEI
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
PELLETS
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
TARGETS
TRITIUM COMPOUNDS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
060201* - Fusion Fuels- Fabrication & Testing- (1980-1987)