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Burn characteristics of compressed fuel pellets for D- sup 3 He inertial fusion

Journal Article · · Fusion Technology; (United States)
OSTI ID:7107437
; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Kyushu Univ., Dept. of Nuclear Engineering, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812 (JP)
  2. Kyushu Univ., Dept. of Energy Conversion Engineering, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816 (JP)

In this paper, the feasibility of using D-{sup 3}He fuel in inertial confinement fusion is examined by using a hydrodynamics code that includes neutron and charged-particle transport routines. The use of a small amount of deuterium-tritium (D-T) ignitor is indispensable. Burn simulations are made for quasi-isobaric D-T/D-{sup 3}He pellet models compressed to 5000 times the liquid density. Substantial fuel gains ({approx}500) are obtained from pellets having parameters {rho}R{sub D-T} = 3 g/cm{sup 2} and {rho}R{sub total} = 14 g/cm{sup 2} and a central spark temperature of 5 keV. The amount of driver energy needed to achieve these gains is estimated to be {approx} 30 MJ when the coupling efficiency is 10%. The driver energy requirement can be reduced by using spin-polarized D-T and D-{sup 3}He fuels.

OSTI ID:
7107437
Journal Information:
Fusion Technology; (United States), Journal Name: Fusion Technology; (United States) Vol. 22:1; ISSN 0748-1896; ISSN FUSTE
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English