ICF Hybrid Burner Using Tritium-Lean Targets

A near-term ICF driven actinide burner has gained much interest.. However, the D-T ICF approach with tritium breeding gives a low support ratio. We propose here using fast ignition of tritium-lean targets to obtain a higher fraction of useful neutrons by reducing tritium-breeding requirements while lowering neutron-induced material damage [1]. This approach appears feasible as simulations show fast ignited tritium-lean targets use only a modest added input-energy over DT targets [2, 3]. Further, discovery of the ``block ignition'' concept is even more encouraging [3]. Thus we suggest the added time to go directly to tritium lean ICF burners (vs. D-T) is minimal. The presentation reviews physics and technology issues for development of a competitive actinide burner.\\[4pt] [1] M. Ragheb, et al., ``Alternate approach to ICF with low tritium inventories and high power densities'', \textit{J. Fus. Energy} \textbf{4, }339-351 (1985).\\[0pt] [2] G. N. Miley, ``Tritium-Lean Fusion Reactors Revisited'', \textit{ ANS TOFE Conference}, San Francisco, CA, Sept. 2008.\\[0pt] [3] G.H. Miley, et al., ``Reduction of Threshold for Laser Fusion Ignition at Nonlinear Force Driven Block Acceleration'', \textit{ANS TOFE Conference}, San Francisco, CA, Sept. 2008