Thermal Loading of a Direct Drive Target Rarefied Gas

Abstract

In an inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant, each fusion micro-explosion (~10 Hz) causes thermal and structural loads on the IFE reactor wall and driver optics. The loading on the wall must remain sufficiently low to ensure that economic and safety constraints are met.One proposed method for decreasing the intensity of the wall loading is to fill the reaction chamber with a gas, such as Xe, at low density. The gas will absorb much of the radiation and ion energy from the fusion event, and then slowly release it to the chamber wall.