Single-pass, heavy ion systems for large-scale neutron source applications

Abstract

A single-pass heavy-ion fusion system for power production from fusion reactions alone, power production that uses additional energy of fission reactions obtained by driving a sub-critical fission pile with the neutrons from fusion reactions, destroying high-level and/or long-lived radioactive waste by intense bombardment with fusion neutrons, or for the production of neutron beams for various applications includes a new arrangement of current multiplying processes that employs a multiplicity of isotopes to achieve the desired effect of distributing the task of amplifying the current among all the various processes, to relieve stress on any one process, and to increase the design margin for assured ICF (inertial confinement fusion) ignition for applications including but not restricted to the above list. The energy content and power of the ignition-driver pulses are greatly increased, thus increasing intensity of target heating and rendering reliable ignition readily attainable.

1 . A power system, comprising:
 a particle accelerator system comprising:
 a source assembly for emitting a stream of isotopic slugs, each slug comprising a train of microbunches; 
 at least one RF (radio frequency) accelerator section for receiving said slug stream and focusing, accelerating, and funneling said slug stream until a plurality of high-current, parallel slug trains emerges; 
 a telescoper for receiving said plurality of high-current parallel slug trains and emitting different isotopic species into a single common-rigidity beamline so that said species arrive at a target in a specified sequence; 
 at least one snugger for receiving said common-rigidity beamline and snugging slugs within said common-rigidity beamline until they drift to points at prescribed distances from at least one target in at least one reaction chamber; 
 a delay line for rearranging beam slugs to collect small individual spaces between slugs and sort slugs into parallel beamlines to produce a smaller momentum spread at focusing on the target; 
 a delay line for eliminating at least a portion of a distance between centers of successive slugs; 
 a controller for controlling arrival of said slugs at targets in specified reaction chambers according to a specified schedule; 
 at least one slicker for imparting specified velocity differentials into microbunches of said slugs at specified distances upstream from each of said reaction chambers; 
 a wobbler for swirling a beam spot rapidly around a target to heat an annular region of the target with smooth energy deposition density in said target; and 
 at least one set of final focusing lenses for focusing said beam on said target; 
 a reaction vessel, comprising within said reaction vessel, a lithium body for receiving at least one fuel pellet therein, said lithium body defining at least one channel for delivering at least one energy pulse to said fuel pellet; 
 a system for delivering liquid lithium to an interior of said reaction vessel in at least one of the forms of:
 jets and sprays to diminish blast forces and provide neutron shielding; 
 as sheets that rupture immediately after each fusion pulse but reform in to act as curtains that reduce backflow of the low pressure gases released by each fusion pulse; and 
 as thick layers flowing along the inner chamber surface in a helical path toward the ends of the cylindrical chamber; and 
 
 a controller for regulating flows of said liquid lithium; 
 a plurality of entrance ports penetrating said reaction chamber; and 
 a plurality of beamlines for delivering pulses of heavy-ion beams to said reaction chamber from said driver, wherein said plurality of beams enters said reaction chamber through said plurality of entrance ports and contacts said fuel pellet through said at least one channel; 
   at least one power plant coupled to said at least one reaction chamber by means of a heat exchanger system, wherein energy generated in said reaction chamber is transferred to said power plant through said heat exchanger system for conversion to other forms of energy; and   a system for direct conversion of energy that results from raising the lithium to a plasma state, said system for direct conversion of energy including:   components for magnetic piston direct conversion coupling to pick-up electrodes integrated into said reaction chamber inside a vacuum wall;   transmission lines to conduct electricity thus picked up as pulses; and
 a supply for a magnetic field supplied by magnets outside the vacuum wall. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said heavy-ion beams comprise eight heavy-ion beams total, with four heavy-ion beams being delivered to each of two entrance ports. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein a pulse comprises one of:
 a compression pulse; and   a fast ignition pulse.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an ion source manifold for enclosing said ion source assembly until an inter-microbunch spacing and inter-slug spacing prescribed for each isotopic slug is reached;   a delay line that eliminates at least a portion of a distance between centers of successive slugs;
 said slugs drifting to points at prescribed distances from at least one target in at least one reaction chamber; 
   a central controller and timing actuators in the ion sources and RF power systems for controlling arrival of said slugs at fuel targets in specified reaction chambers according to a specified schedule;   at least one slicker for imparting specified velocity differentials into microbunches of said slugs at specified distances upstream from each of said reaction chambers;   a wobbler for swirling a beam spot rapidly around a fuel target for purposes of smooth energy deposition density in said fuel target; and   at least one final focusing lens for focusing said beam on a fuel target;   a plurality of beamlines for delivering pulses of heavy-ion beams to said reaction chamber from said driver, wherein said plurality of beams enters said reaction chamber through a plurality of entrance ports and contacts said fuel pellet through said at least one channel;   a sub-critical configuration for enclosing a large-fraction of the reaction chamber with fission materials and means for removing heat generated in said sub-critical fission pile;   a direct conversion generator for coupling at least one electrical generator using direct conversion of thermal to electric energy from ultra-high temperature thermodynamic working fluids, said direct conversion generator comprising units using either or both non-contacting and contacting energy conversion means;   a heat exchanger system for coupling at least one power plant to said at least one reaction chamber;   said heat exchanger system transferring energy generated in said reaction chamber to said power plant; and   means for converting said transferred energy to other forms of energy.   
     
     
         5 . A method of producing neutrons from reactions for production of quantities of desirable isotopic materials sand generation of neutron beams for research and medical applications, comprising:
 emitting a stream of isotopic slugs in parallel channels from a manifold holding multiple ion sources, each ion source in said manifold producing one of a series of distinct isotopes, the ion source for each slug being timed so that the slugs of said stream penetrate a plane perpendicular to their paths in a programmed time sequence;   coordinated groups of parallel slugs entering a high voltage direct current accelerating column comprising a plurality of electrodes, each provided with an individual aperture for each isotopic slug, the plurality of apertures having the same hole pattern as the manifold source;   each coordinated group of parallel slugs entering a radio frequency (RF) linear accelerator having a first section of RF accelerator converting constant current slug pulses into slug pulses comprising microbunches, said microbunches passing a point at the RF frequency;   each coordinated group of parallel slugs of microbunches entering a second RF linear accelerator section, electrode surfaces of said second RF accelerator section providing individual channels for each of said isotopic slugs;   receiving each coordinated group of parallel slugs into a manifold of magnetic beamlines, said beamlines routing each of the individual slugs to one of a series of magnetic switches on a common centerline, switching the sequence of parallel beams into one collinear train of slugs having a programmed sequence of spaces;   receiving said slug stream in further sections of RF accelerator and focusing, accelerating, and funneling said slug streams from a multiplicity of parallel manifold sources, wherein a total number of said streams from multiple manifold sources is decreased until a predetermined plurality of high-current, parallel slug trains emerges;   by means of a telescoper, receiving said plurality of high-current parallel slug trains and accelerating isotopic slugs by a multiplicity of energy gains, the energy gain of each slug bringing that slug to a magnetic rigidity that is equal for all isotopic species;   switching each set of parallel slugs out of the telescoper at the points where they respectively reach the equal magnetic rigidity;   routing each equal rigidity slug into a common beamline with magnetic switches, and emitting a train of slugs having programmed sequencing in time, and   emitting trains of slugs in parallel beams, onto remaining processes, so that said different isotopic species within the trains of slugs arrive at a target in a specified sequence;   by means of a merger, receiving said plurality of high-current parallel slug trains, into a plurality of magnetic beamlines that route the slug trains to a plurality of magnetic switches, the combination of said magnetic switches injecting the plurality of high-current parallel slug trains in RF-synchronized simultaneity into a common centerline;   wherein injection into the common beamline uses equally planes of two transverse phase spaces, with magnetic transport that minimizes inessential growth in the total phase space occupied by the merged beams;   receiving said common-rigidity beamline in at least one snugger and snugging the microbunches in individual slugs within an RF snugging accelerator section and lengths of said common-rigidity beamline, the frequency of said RF snugging accelerating section controlled to provide differential speeds to the microbunches within a slug so that the microbunches snug and the slugs contract in the beam direction until they reach an inter-microbunch spacing prescribed for each isotopic slug;   receiving said trains of slugs with said spacing in at least one RF snug stopper, removing the inter-bunch speed differentials by the RF snug stopper, wherein frequency and amplitude of said RF snug stopper accelerating sections are controlled to reduce the speed differentials between microbunches within a slug in an orderly manner to minimize inessential growth in the volume occupied in a 6-d phase space so that microbunch snugging and slug contracting progressively decrease until they reach an inter-microbunch spacing and inter-slug spacing prescribed for each isotopic slug;   eliminating at least a portion of a distance between centers of successive slugs by means of a delay line;   said slugs drifting to points at prescribed distances from at least one target in at least one reaction chamber;   controlling arrival of said slugs at fuel targets in specified reaction chambers according to a specified schedule by means of a central controller and timing actuators in the ion sources and RF power systems;   imparting specified velocity differentials into microbunches of said slugs at specified distances upstream from each of said reaction chambers by means of at least one slicker;   swirling a beam spot rapidly around a fusion fuel target, for purposes of smooth energy deposition density in said fuel target using a wobbler; and   focusing said beam on a fuel target by means of at least one final focusing lens;   delivering pulses of heavy-ion beams to said reaction chamber from said driver by means of a plurality of beamlines, wherein said plurality of beams enters said reaction chamber through a plurality of entrance ports and contacts said fuel pellet through said at least one channel;   enclosing suitable portions of the reaction chamber with materials to be transmuted to quantities of desirable isotopes, and providing means to remove the heat generated in said materials and their transmutation products; and   providing collimators to form the flux of neutrons into channels for conduction to target areas for research, small-scale material transmutation operations, and medical applications.