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Effects of neutron heating on ignition and energy gain of laser-imploded D-T pellets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2009

T. Johzaki
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812, Japan
Y. Nakao
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812, Japan
H. Nakashima
Affiliation:
Department of Energy Conversion Engineering, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816, Japan
H. Takabe
Affiliation:
lnstitute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka 565, Japan
A. Oda
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812, Japan
K. Kudo
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Fukuoka 812, Japan

Abstract

On the basis of coupled neutronic/hydrodynamic calculations, we examine the neutron heating effects on the ignition and burn propagation in laser-imploded D-T pellets. The fusionproduced neutrons deposit their energy all over the pellet region since the mean-free-path of the neutron is long. The fraction of neutron energies deposited to the central spark region during the ignition phase is too small to reduce the threshold energy of the laser for ignition. In the burn phase, the neutron heating decreases the maximum compression ratio and accelerates the plasma expansion. The inclusion of neutron heating hence decreases the pellet gain from the value in the case without neutron heating. Calculations neglecting the transport of neutron recoils overestimate the neutron heating rate in the reactor-grade pellets.

Type
Regular Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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