1. Introduction The Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics in worldwide collaboration develops a project of a 14 MeV neutron source for fusion material studies and other applications [1,2]. The projected neutron source of plasma type is based on the gas dynamic trap (GDT), which is a special magnetic mirror system for plasma confinement [3]. Essential progress in plasma parameters was performed in recent experiments at the GDT facility in the Budker Institute, which is a hydrogen (deuterium) prototype of the source. Stable confinement of hot-ion plasmas with the relative pressure exceeding 0.5 was demonstrated. The electron temperature was increased up to 0.9 keV in the regime with additional ECRH of a moderate power [4]. These parameters are the record for axisymmetric open mirror traps. These achievements shift the projects of a GDT-based neutron source on a higher level of competitive ability and make possible today to construct a source with reasonable parameters, suitable for materials testing. The first part of this paper presents a brief review of basic experimental results obtained on the GDT device in recent years. The second part of the paper focuses on numerical simulations of the GDT neutron source and its possible applications including a fusion material test facility and a fusion-fission hybrid system.
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