Directions for Reactor Target Design Based on the US Heavy Ion Fusion Systems Assessment

摘要

We studied areas of major uncertainty in target design using the cost of electricity as our figure of merit. Net electric power from the plant was fixed at 1000 MW to eliminate large effects due to economies of scale. The system is relatively insensitive to target gain. Factors of three changes in gain cause only 8 to 12% changes in electricity cost. An increase in the peak power needed to drive targets poses only a small cost risk, but requires many more beamlets be transported to the target. A shortening of the required ion range causes both cost and beamlet difficulties. A factor of 4 decrease in the required range at a fixed driver energy increases electricity cost by 44% and raises the number of beamlets to 240. Finally, the heavy ion fusion system can accommodate large increases in target costs. To address the major uncertainties, target design should concentrate on the understanding requirements for ion range and peak driver power. (ERA citation 11:039362)