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Release : 2008
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Kind : eBook
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Book Synopsis Estimated Radiactive and Shock Loading of Fusion Reactor Armor by :

Download or read book Estimated Radiactive and Shock Loading of Fusion Reactor Armor written by . This book was released on 2008. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is of interest as a source of neutrons for proliferation-resistant and high burn-up fission reactor designs. ICF is a transient process, each implosion leading to energy release over a short period, with a continuous series of ICF operations needed to drive the fission reactor. ICF yields energy in the form of MeV-range neutrons and ions, and thermal x-rays. These radiations, particularly the thermal x-rays, can deposit a pulse of energy in the wall of the ICF chamber, inducing loading by isochoric heating (i.e. at constant volume before the material can expand) or by ablation of material from the surface. The explosion of the hot ICF system, and the compression of any fill material in the chamber, may also result in direct mechanical loading by a blast wave (decaying shock) reaching the chamber wall. The chamber wall must be able to survive the repetitive loading events for long enough for the reactor to operate economically. It is thus necessary to understand the loading induced by ICF systems in possible chamber wall designs, and to predict the response and life time of the wall. Estimates are given for the loading induced in the wall armor of the fusion chamber caused by ablative thermal radiation from the fusion plasma and by the hydrodynamic shock. Taking a version of the LIFE design as an example, the ablation pressure was estimated to be (almost equal to)0.6 GPa with an approximately exponential decay with time constant (almost equal to)0.6 ns. Radiation hydrodynamics simulations suggested that ablation of the W armor should be negligible.