Project Design of a Pulsed D-D Fusion Neutron Source Based on Field Reversed Configuration

Abstract

The fusion neutron source is of great significance for conducting material testing for future fusion reactors, as it can genuinely reflect the change of material properties under fusion neutron irradiation. The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) is an accelerator-driven neutron source. It still has some differences from the ideal fusion neutron source in terms of fusion neutron energy spectrum, which has led to the reconsideration of the fusion neutron source approach. In this paper, the magnetic field configuration, heating scheme design, and related calculations are carried out regarding the fusion neutron source. The plasma temperature, density evolution process, and the corresponding neutron yield of the field reversed configuration (FRC) plasma after two-stage cascade magnetic compression are analyzed, and the suppression of the magnetic fluid instabilities such as tilted and rotating modes of the FRC plasma after considering the two-fluid effect and the finite Larmor radius effect are studied. The fundamental physical parameters of the fusion neutron source are finally given. The calculation results show that the neutron source is expected to obtain fusion neutrons with an annual average power density higher than 2 MW/m², which can meet the requirements of material testing of the demonstration reactors (DEMO). The power estimation also shows that the scheme has the potential to become an energy source based on the pulsed deuterium-deuterium fusion.