HYPERFUSE: a hypervelocity inertial confinement system for fusion energy production and fission waste transmutation

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:7089222

Makowitz, H; Powell, J R; Wiswall, R

Parametric system studies of an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor system to transmute fission products from a LWR economy have been carried out. The ICF reactors would produce net power in addition to transmuting fission products. The particular ICF concept examined is an impact fusion approach termed HYPERFUSE, in which hypervelocity pellets, traveling on the order of 100 to 300 km/sec, collide with each other or a target block in a reactor chamber and initiate a thermonuclear reaction. The DT fusion fuel is contained in a shell of the material to be transmuted, e.g., /sup 137/Cs, /sup 90/Sr, /sup 129/I, /sup 99/Tc, etc. The 14-MeV fusion neutrons released during the pellet burn cause transmutation reactions (e.g., (n,2n), (n,..cap alpha..), (n,..gamma..), etc.) that convert the long-lived fission products (FP's) either to stable products or to species that decay with a short half-life to a stable product. The transmutation parametric studies conclude that the design of the hypervelocity projectiles should emphasize the achievement of high densities in the transmutation regions (greater than the DT fusion fuel density), as well as the DT ignition and burn criterion (rho R = 1.0 to 3.0) requirements. These studies also indicate that masses on the order of 1.0 g at densities of rho greater than or equal to 500.0 g/cm/sup 3/ are required for a practical fusion-based fission product transmutation system.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 7089222
• Report Number(s): BNL-28440; CONF-801011-42
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

060700* -- Fusion Fuels-- Waste Management-- (1980-1987)
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
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ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
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IODINE 129
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