Inertial confinement fusion reaction chamber and power conversion system study. Final report

Technical Report · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1985

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6021627· OSTI ID:6021627

Maya, I; Schultz, K R; Bourque, R F; Cheng, E T; Creedon, R L; Norman, J H; Price, R J; Porter, J; Schuster, H L; Simnad, M J

This report summarizes the results of the second year of a two-year study on the design and evaluation of the Cascade concept as a commercial inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor. We developed a reactor design based on the Cascade reaction chamber concept that would be competitive in terms of both capital and operating costs, safe and environmentally acceptable in terms of hazard to the public, occupational exposure and radioactive waste production, and highly efficient. The Cascade reaction chamber is a double-cone-shaped rotating drum. The granulated solid blanket materials inside the rotating chamber are held against the walls by centrifugal force. The fusion energy is captured in a blanket of solid carbon, BeO, and LiAlO/sub 2/ granules. These granules are circulated to the primary side of a ceramic heat exchanger. Primary-side granule temperatures range from 1285 K at the LiAlO/sub 2/ granule heat exchanger outlet to 1600 K at the carbon granule heat exchanger inlet. The secondary side consists of a closed-cycle gas turbine power conversion system with helium working fluid, operating at 1300 K peak outlet temperature and achieving a thermal power conversion efficiency of 55%. The net plant efficiency is 49%. The reference design is a plant producing 1500 MW of D-T fusion power and delivering 815 MW of electrical power for sale to the utility grid. 88 refs., 44 figs., 47 tabs.

• Research Organization: General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6021627
• Report Number(s): UCRL-15750; GA-A-17842; ON: DE86006725
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Portions of this document are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CASCADE REACTORS
BREEDING BLANKETS
COST ESTIMATION
SHIELDING
THERMONUCLEAR REACTOR MATERIALS
POWER GENERATION
TRITIUM
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LASER FUSION REACTORS
LIGHT NUCLEI
MATERIALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
700200* - Fusion Energy- Fusion Power Plant Technology