1-D simulations of capsule implosions and output spectra for Xcimer's Vulcan next-generation inertial confinement fusion facility

Xcimer Energy Corporation is working toward the goal for 2030 to complete the construction of Vulcan, its next-generation facility that will achieve the highest laser energy in the world. Xcimer’s roadmap calls for delivering electricity to the grid as soon as the mid-2030s. While Xcimer's power plants will use the thick liquid walls of the HYLIFE-III design, Vulcan will be a dry-walled chamber. A 2-sided hybrid direct drive target design has been developed and recently published [1] through a DOE INFUSE grant that is the baseline prototype for the HYLIFE-III-based reactor. The design for the Vulcan chamber, setting diagnostic requirements, and planning of experimental campaigns require an agile radiation-hydrodynamics simulation capability to map out the ICF target design space. We are using 1-D HELIOS-CR as an initial in-house design tool to meet this need. We have developed a custom postprocessing and optimization package that we are using to validate HELIOS against NIF shot N210808. Our next step is to develop a 1-D hybrid direct drive target simulation that approximates the performance of the hybrid direct drive target. We will then use HELIOS and related Prism simulation tools, such as SPECT3D and VISRAD, to study target performance design parameters; calculate x-ray, neutron, and charged particle fluxes to the chamber wall; and begin defining diagnostic requirements and layouts.

¹C. A. Thomas, et al., "Hybrid direct drive with a two-sided ultraviolet laser," Phys Plas vol. 31, no. 11, p. 112708, 2024.