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Title: Realizing Technologies for Magnetized Target Fusion

Abstract

Researchers are making progress with a range of magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) concepts. All of these approaches use the addition of a magnetic field to a target plasma, and then compress the plasma to fusion conditions. The beauty of MIF is that driver power requirements are reduced, compared to classical inertial fusion approaches, and simultaneously the compression timescales can be longer, and required implosion velocities are slower. The presence of a sufficiently large Bfield expands the accessibility to ignition, even at lower values of the density-radius product, and can confine fusion alphas. A key constraint is that the lifetime of the MIF target plasma has to be matched to the timescale of the driver technology (whether liners, heavy ions, or lasers). To achieve sufficient burn-up fraction, scaling suggests that larger yields are more effective. To handle the larger yields (GJ level), thick liquid wall chambers are certainly desired (no plasma/neutron damage materials problem) and probably required. With larger yields, slower repetition rates ({approx}0.1-1 Hz) for this intrinsically pulsed approach to fusion are possible, which means that chamber clearing between pulses can be accomplished on timescales that are compatible with simple clearing techniques (flowing liquid droplet curtains). However, demonstration of the requiredmore » reliable delivery of hundreds of MJ of energy, for millions of pulses per year, is an ongoing pulsed power technical challenge.« less

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
DOE/LANL
OSTI Identifier:
1049982
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-12-24306
TRN: US1204516
DOE Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: ANS 20th Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy, 2012-08-27/2012-08-31 (Nashville, Tennessee, United States) ; 2012-08-27 - 2012-08-30 ; Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; COMPRESSION; HEAVY IONS; IGNITION; IMPLOSIONS; LASERS; LIFETIME; LINERS; MAGNETIC FIELDS; PLASMA; TARGETS; THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS

Citation Formats

Wurden, Glen A. Realizing Technologies for Magnetized Target Fusion. United States: N. p., 2012. Web.
Wurden, Glen A. Realizing Technologies for Magnetized Target Fusion. United States.
Wurden, Glen A. 2012. "Realizing Technologies for Magnetized Target Fusion". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1049982.
@article{osti_1049982,
title = {Realizing Technologies for Magnetized Target Fusion},
author = {Wurden, Glen A},
abstractNote = {Researchers are making progress with a range of magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) concepts. All of these approaches use the addition of a magnetic field to a target plasma, and then compress the plasma to fusion conditions. The beauty of MIF is that driver power requirements are reduced, compared to classical inertial fusion approaches, and simultaneously the compression timescales can be longer, and required implosion velocities are slower. The presence of a sufficiently large Bfield expands the accessibility to ignition, even at lower values of the density-radius product, and can confine fusion alphas. A key constraint is that the lifetime of the MIF target plasma has to be matched to the timescale of the driver technology (whether liners, heavy ions, or lasers). To achieve sufficient burn-up fraction, scaling suggests that larger yields are more effective. To handle the larger yields (GJ level), thick liquid wall chambers are certainly desired (no plasma/neutron damage materials problem) and probably required. With larger yields, slower repetition rates ({approx}0.1-1 Hz) for this intrinsically pulsed approach to fusion are possible, which means that chamber clearing between pulses can be accomplished on timescales that are compatible with simple clearing techniques (flowing liquid droplet curtains). However, demonstration of the required reliable delivery of hundreds of MJ of energy, for millions of pulses per year, is an ongoing pulsed power technical challenge.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1049982}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 24 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Fri Aug 24 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}

Conference:
Other availability
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