Improving the Performance of a Fusion Neutron Science Facility

Two major modifications to the existing steady state Fusion Neutron Science Facility (FNSF) [1] concept are investigated with the aim of determining whether or not the predicted perfor- mance can be substantially improved. The modifications are high magnetic field and pulsed operation. We find that high field leads to major improvements in a steady state FNSF, although at the expense of lowering the engineering gain. Pulsed operation replaces the problems associ- ated with low current drive efficiency, with hopefully more manageable engineering problems. Here, however, high field is not helpful, and low field is more desirable. Pulsed FNSFs also have a reduced engineering gain. Further modifications lead to FNSF designs satisfying the additional constraint of engineering gain equal to unity. For these designs there is a large cost penalty for the steady state FNSF but only a modest penalty for the pulsed FNSF. All of our modified designs show modest to large potential improvements over the existing design. Over- all, our conclusion is that it may be desirable to carry out a more detailed analysis of one of our improved designs, the choice depending upon which issue in the existing design is most important.

References

[1] C. E. Kessel, J. P. Blanchard, A. Davis, L. El-Guebaly, N. Ghoniem, P. W. Humrickhouse, S. Malang, B. J. Merrill, N. B. Morley, G. H. Neilson, M. E. Rensink, T. D. Rognlien, A. F. Rowcliffe, S. Smolentsev, L. L. Snead, M. S. Tillack, P. Titus, L. M. Waganer, A. Ying, K. Young and Y. Zhai, The Fusion Nuclear Science Facility, the Critical Step in the Pathway to Fusion Energy, Fusion Science and Technology, 68:2, 225-236 (2015), DOI: 10.13182/FST14-953