ICF Reactor Using a 3He-Aflint Tritium Self-Sufficient Target

Abstract

Alternate fuel configurations which enable tritium to be bred within the target itself could provide a significant advantage for ICF reactors since a complicated tritium breeding blanket can be avoided. The present work considers a D-fueled target (termed the “AFLINT” concept) for this purpose. A target design is proposed that achieves an internal Tritium Breeding Ratio (TBR) of ~1.1, sufficient for recycle of tritium for manufacture of subsequent targets in a “closed cycle” fashion. 3He is also recycled to obtain optimum burn conditions. For reactor studies, two driver options of Hg+1 heavy ion beams with the energies of 5 MJ and 20 MJ, and a dual liquid-fall reactor chamber are considered. For both options target gains of about 50 are obtained. The reactor chamber concept employs a thin inner liquid-fall to absorb the × rays and charged-particles energy while a second thin outer fall serves to recondense the vaporized liquid, protect the first structural wall against neutron damage, and absorb the radial momentum transfer from the disintegrating inner fall. These unique features coupled with the tritium self-sufficient 3He-AFLINT concept represent an interesting alternative to the conventional D-T reactor concept.