R.L. Engelstad

Overview of the LIBRA light ion beam fusion conceptual design

The LIBRA light ion beam fusion commercial reactor study is a self-consistent conceptual design of a 330 MWe power plant with an accompanying economic analysis. Fusion targets are imploded by 4 MJ shaped pulses of 30 MeV Li ions at a rate of 3 Hz. The target gain is 80, leading to a yield of 320 MJ. The high intensity part of the ion plate is delivered by 16 diodes through 16 separate z-pinch plasma channels formed in 100 torr of helium with trace amounts of lithium. The blanket is an array of porous flexible silicon carbide tubes with Li/sub 17/Pb/sub 83/ flowing downward through them. These tubes (INPORT units) shield the target chamber wall from both neutron damage and the shock overpressure of the target explosion. The target chamber is self-pumped by the target explosion generated overpressure into a surge tank partially filled with Li/sub 17/Pb/sub 83/ that surrounds the target chamber. This scheme refreshes the chamber at the desired 3 Hz frequency without excessive pumping demands. The blanket multiplication is 1.2 and the tritium breeding ratio is 1.4. The direct capital cost of LIBRA is estimated to be

LIBRA-LiTE: A 1000 MWe reactor

2200/kWe.

SIRIUS-T, an Advanced Tritium Production Facility Utilizing Symmetrically Illuminated Inertial Confinement Fusion

ConclusionsThe results from this study indicate that light ions can be a competitive factor in the race to commercial fusion power. The relatively simple and near-term driver technology is particularly attractive compared to higher cost laser and heavy ion schemes. The cavity design and engineering operations can be tailored such that Utilities could envision a reliable and maintainable power plant. The major problem to be faced now is the method of beam propagation to the target. The LIBRA-LiTE design reveals that ballistic transport may be more attractive from a physics standpoint, but the severe neutron environment presents a challenge to materials scientists. Continued experimentation and research is needed to develop a truly attractive ICF power plant.

SIRIUS-M: a symmetric illumination, inertially confined direct drive materials test facility

SIRIUS-T is a study of an advanced tritium production facility which utilizes direct drive symmetric illumination inertial confinement fusion provided by a KrF laser. Symmetrically illuminated reactor systems have some very unique problems which have to do with a large number of beams. In SIRIUS-T, a single shell ICF target is illuminated by 92 symmetrically distributed beams around a spherical cavity of 4 m radius. The driver energy is 2 MJ and the target gain 50. The first wall consists of graphite tiles bonded to an actively cooled vanadium structure. There is a 1.0 torr xenon buffer gas in the cavity. The structural material is the vanadium alloy V-3Ti-1Si, the breeding/cooling material is lithium 90% enriched in Li-6 and the neutron multiplier is Be, giving a tritium breeding ratio of 1.903. The total tritium inventory in the reactor is 184 g. A routine release of 29 Ci/d is estimated and the maximum accidental release is 19.9 g. At 100 MJ yield, a repetition rate of 10 Hz and an availability of 70%, a tritium surplus of 33.3 kg per calendar year is achieved. Using 100% debt financing, and a 30 full power year (FPY) reactor lifetime, the cost of tritium production is

A near symmetrically illuminated direct drive laser fusion power reactor - SIRIUS-P

8,885/g at 5% interest on capital and

Chamber Design for the LIBRA Light Ion Beam Fusion Reactor

14,611/g at 10% in 1990 dollars.

SIRIUS-T, a symmetrically illuminated ICF tritium production facility

SIRIUS-M is a fusion materials test facility designed to duplicate the time-dependent radiation damage structure unique to ICF systems in order to provide the technology base necessary for an ICF demonstration facility. Single-shell ICF targets are symmetrically illuminated by 32 beams of a KrF laser with a total laser energy of 1 MJ. A wall loading of 2 MW/m2 is achieved at a repetition rate of 10 Hz and target gain of 13.4. Xenon gas at a pressure of 133 Pa (1 torr) is placed in the 2 m radius, graphite-tiled, cavity in order to protect the first wall from the X-rays and ions produced by the explosions. Two circular test modules are used in SIRIUS-M. Each module has a front surface area of 1 m2 and fits between three beam ports. No significant radial and azimuthal damage variation in the module results from these penetrations. The peak dpa rate is 24 dpa/FPY yielding a peak accumulated damage of 120 dpa at the end of life of the SIRIUS-M facility. A total volume-integrated-damage figure of merit of 2840 dpa-l per full power year can be achieved in SIRIUS-M.

Transient elastic stresses in ICF reactor first wall structural systems

This paper describes the design of a 1000 MWe inertially confined fusion power reactor utilizing near symmetric illumination provided by a KrF laser. The nominal laser energy is 3.4 MJ, the target ...

A novel first wall protection scheme for ion beam ICF reactors

Scoping analysis was performed for LIBRA to determine the blanket design options that satisfy the tritium breeding and wall protection requirements. The blanket is made of banks of INPORT tubes of porous SiC and Li/sub 17/Pb/sub 83/ flowing in them. The reference design utilizes a 1.35 m thick blanket region backed by a 0.5 m thick HT-9 reflector. The lithium in the blanket and reflector is enriched to 90% /sup 6/Li. This design leads to the shortest possible beam propagation channel. The TBR is 1.5 and the end-of-life dpa in the chamber wall is 200 dpa. In this paper the authors describe the design and configuration of the chamber as well as the tritium fueling and the response to the target explosion.

SIRIUS-T Structural System Design and Analysis

A scoping study of a symmetrically illuminating inertial confinement fusion (ICF) tritium production facility utilizing a KrF laser is presented. A single-shell ICF target is illuminated by 92 beams symmetrically distributed around a spherical cavity filled with xenon gas at 1.0 torr. The driver energy and target gain are taken to be 2 MJ and 50, respectively, for the optimistic case, and 1 MJ and 100, respectively, for the conservative case. Based on a graphite dry wall evaporation rate of 0.1 cm/yr for a 100-MJ yield, a cavity radius of 3.5 m for a repetition rate of 10 Hz and 3.0 m for 5 Hz is estimated. A spherical structural frame capable of supporting 92 blanket modules, each with a beam port in the center, has been scoped out. The authors have selected liquid lithium in vanadium structure as the primary breeding concept, utilizing beryllium as a neutron multiplier. A tritium breeding ratio of 1.83 can be achieved in the 3-m radius cavity, which at 10 Hz and an availability of 75% provides an annual tritium surplus of 32.6 kg. Assuming 100% debt financing over a 30-yr reactor lifetime, the production cost of T/sub 2/ for the 2-MJ driver case is