Heavy-ion fusion activities at ITEP

Abstract

An overview of current activities on Heavy-Ion Fusion at ITEP is presented. A project called TWAC (TeraWatt Accumulator) is in progress now, aiming at the production of TeraWatt power level (100 kJ/100 ns) of intense heavy-ion beams, concentrated on experimental targets [1]. The project is based on the use of the existing accelerator chain at ITEP: A 2 MV/2.7 MHz heavy-ion injector I-3, a 13 Tm booster ring UK, a 34 Tm synchrotron U-10, a system of beam transfer lines and a laser ion source of He-like medium mass ions. Volume energy deposition of the heavy-ion beam in a target is expected to generate hot, strongly compressed matter with extremely high energy density (>1 MJ/g) in dense plasmas. The scientific program includes a number of challenging issues on accelerator physics, the physics of high energy density in matter and relativistic nuclear physics. The results of numerical simulations relevant to the suggested high energy density in matter experiments with TWAC beams are discussed. A survey of current experiments on beam–plasma interaction using the ITEP 3 MeV proton linac is given here.