A D-³He fusion reactor with an edge radiating layer

Abstract

The possibility of operations with advanced fuels in high temperature, high-β plasmas is investigated. At high β values, diamagnetic effects reduce the toroidal field strength in the plasma core and tend to localize the synchrotron radiation source in the outer part of the plasma column. Thus, the core energy balance is not affected by synchrotron radiation losses, but a large amount of the fusion power is radiated by the edge and the divertor power load is decreased. A small fraction of the radiated power can be recirculated for non-inductive current drive, to compensate for the large amount of bootstrap current, naturally present in such configurations. In this scheme, synchrotron radiation is also used to recover the fusion power, by direct conversion to electric power.

The feasibility of using D–3He and D–D fusion fuels

“…There could be a further reduction in radiation loss at very high β due to the strong reduction of the magnetic field in the plasma core with the effect that synchrotron radiation would be emitted only in the outer part of the plasma. Calculations by Romanelli and Giruzzi [18] suggest that the synchrotron radiation might be reduced by a factor in the range 5-10 at β = 100%. This effect is shown in figure 3 and operation at T > 100 keV may be an option if these high β equilibria are realizable.…”

“…Romanelli and Giruzzi [18] have discussed the possibility of operating a D-3 He reactor at a very high β equilibrium with central β ≈ 100%. Under these conditions, magnetic field is effectively excluded from the plasma core, synchrotron radiation will be localized to the outer plasma and the overall synchrotron loss might be reduced by a factor in the range 5-10.…”

“…With the units defined elsewhere (in particular T in keV) equation (12) multiplied by the factor 1.6 × 1018 gives n e τ E in m −3 s.…”

Low-radioactivity D-3He fusion fuel cycles with3He production

“…An attractive feature of D- 3 He fusion fuel cycles is the possibility of creating a low neutron yield fusion reactor with a first wall lifetime of 30-40 years, which is due to a low neutron flux to the wall. The concepts of reactors using the nearly equicomponent D- 3 He fuel were studied in [1,[7][8][9][10].…”