A Reference Theta Pinch Reactor (RTPR)nA Study of a Pulsed High-Beta Fusion Reactor Based on the Theta Pinch

摘要

A design study of a pulsed high-beta θ-pinch reactor is presented. In the reference design developed here, the reactor generates 1.8 GWe with a duty factor chosen to limit the first wall nuclear power loading to 3.5 MW/m². Magnetic energy is switched reversibly into the compress¬ion coil from a cryogenic magnetic energy store situated outside the reactor core. The compression coil is protected from excessive nuclear radiation and heating by a portion of the neutron-moderating, tritium-breeding blanket. The blanket, in its present configuration, operates at a temperature of 800° C and has a breeding ratio of about 1.12. Flushing of He4 and refueling between burning pulses is accomplished by flowing D-T gas through the discharge chamber. Some advantages of pulsed systems with respect to steady-state systems are discussed. Energy flow in the reactor is calculated, and it is shown that the cir¬culating power fraction for the total system is approximately 10%.