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2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
S. Woodruff, J. E. Stuber, C. Bowman, P. E. Sieck, P. A. Melnik, C. A. Romero-Talamás, J. B. O’Bryan, R. L. Miller
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 4 | November 2017 | Pages 705-712
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1350488
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A design point is presented here for a prototype fusion neutron source for waste transmutation ( n/s), based on the adiabatic compression of a compact torus (spheromak). The design utilizes the CORSICA (2D equilibrium) and NIMROD (3D time-dependent MHD) codes as well as analytic modeling with target parameters Rinitial = 0.5 m, Rfinal = 0.167 m, Tinitial = 0.4 keV, Tfinal = 4 keV, ninitial = 2 × 1020 m–3 and nfinal = 50 × 1020 m–3, with radial convergence of C = 3. 3D time-dependent simulations of spheromak compression agree well with analytic models for adiabatic compression, if the run-in time . Knowing required, we design coils and passive structure (with CORSICA) to ensure stability; then design the capacitor bank needed to both form the target plasma and drive coils. We specify target parameters for the compression in terms of plasma beta, formation efficiency and energy confinement.