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Analyses in Support of Z-Pinch IFE and Actinide Transmutation - LLNL Progress Report for FY-06

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/898441· OSTI ID:898441

This report documents results of LLNL's work in support of two studies being conducted by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL): the development of the Z-pinch driven inertial fusion energy (Z-IFE), and the use of Z-pinch driven inertial fusion as a neutron source to destroy actinides from fission reactor spent fuel. LLNL's efforts in FY06 included: (1) Development of a systems code for Z-IFE and use of the code to examine the operating parameter space in terms of design variables such as the Z-pinch driver energy, the chamber pulse repetition rate, the number of chambers making up the power plant, and the total net electric power of the plant. This is covered in Section 3 with full documentation of the model in Appendix A. (2) Continued development of innovative concepts for the design and operation of the recyclable transmission line (RTL) and chamber for Z-IFE. The work, which builds on our FY04 and FY05 contributions, emphasizes design features that are likely to lead to a more attractive power plant including: liquid jets to protect all structures from direct exposure to neutrons, rapid insertion of the RTL to maximize the potential chamber rep-rate, and use of cast flibe for the RTL to reduce recycling and remanufacturing costs and power needs. See Section 4 and Appendix B. (3) Description of potential figures of merit (FOMs) for actinide transmutation technologies and a discussion of how these FOMs apply and can be used in the ongoing evaluation of the Z-pinch actinide burner, referred to as the In-Zinerator. See Section 5. (4) A critique of, and suggested improvements to, the In-Zinerator chamber design in response to the SNL design team's request for feedback on its preliminary design. This is covered in Section 6.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
898441
Report Number(s):
UCRL-TR-224558
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English