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At least 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Quantitative assessment of Ni + and He + ion irradiation damage in a tungsten heavy alloy under the simulated nuclear fusion environment

A 90W-7Ni-3Fe (wt.%) tungsten heavy alloy has been sequentially Ni + and He + ion irradiated at 700 °C to simulate the high temperature irradiation environment of a fusion reactor interior. W/Ni–Fe-W dual-phase alloys have been proposed to serve as plasma facing materials and require detailed investigation of their behavior under fusion relevant conditions to assess their overall applicability. To evaluate material performance under five years of simulated fusion reactor service, microstructural characterization of the nanoscale defect distribution has been performed on both constituent phases, revealing peak swelling in the W phase of approximately 0.03%. The γ-phase (Ni–Fe-W) is found to swell approximately 0.68% under the same irradiation conditions, indicating significant cavity formation and growth. Additionally, a novel multi-projection imaging approach has been applied to determine the extent of damage segregation along the dual-phase W-to-γ interface and exposes that these interfaces act as sink sites for the accumulation of cavities. Interphase boundaries are noted to possess an 11.8% areal coverage of defects along the boundary plane, primarily on the γ-phase side of the boundary. The accumulation of cavities at these interphase boundaries is anticipated to adversely affect overall material toughness, and this work reveals a pressing need for mechanical property testing of irradiated W–Ni-Fe dual-phase alloys.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

How fast ions mitigate turbulence and enhance confinement in tokamak fusion plasmas

Along with high temperature and density, magnetic fusion requires good confinement and a degree of transport control for thermal plasmas. Meanwhile, fast ions are generated by the external heating used to raise plasma temperature and by the fusion reactions. As a result, the fusion plasmas are effectively rendered into systems with two coexisting populations of main interest — namely, the fast ions and the thermal plasma. Interestingly, several recent experiments indicate that the fast-ion population can improve the confinement of the thermal plasmas by mitigating turbulence. Here, in this Review, we describe the physical mechanisms that underpin the improved confinement and discuss recent experimental results in terms of these mechanisms.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Photo-fusion reactions in a new compact device for ELI

In the last few years significant progress on technological, experimental and numerical studies on fusion process in high density and high temperature plasmas produced by a high intensity laser pulse interaction with clusters in a high external applied magnetic field, enable us to propose a compact photo-fusion magnetic device for high neutron production. For the purpose of the project a pulsed magnetic field driver with values up to 110 Tesla has been developed which allows increasing the trapping time of the high density plasma in the device and improving the neutron yield. Numerical simulations show that the proposed device is capable of producing up to 10{sup 9}-10{sup 10} neutrons per laser shot with an external magnetic field of 150 Tesla. The proposed device can be used for experiments and numerical code validation concerning different conventional and (or) exotic fusion fuels.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Dynamic microscopic theory of fusion using DC-TDHF

The density-constrained time-dependent Hartree-Fock (DC-TDHF) theory is a fully microscopic approach for calculating heavy-ion interaction potentials and fusion cross sections below and above the fusion barrier. We discuss recent applications of DC-TDHF method to fusion of light and heavy systems.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Coordinated activities on evaluation of collisional data for fusion applications

It is the role of the Atomic and Molecular Data Unit of the International Atomic Energy Agency to review progress in the production, compilation and evaluation of atomic, molecular and plasma-surface interaction (AM/PSI) data for the fusion program and to support the development of internationally recommended libraries of AM/PSI data for fusion. In response to increasing requests from the fusion community the Unit has increased its effort to promote the assessment of data quality by organizing a series of meetings on the relevant issues: 1) Error propagation and sensitivity analysis, 2) Current status of evaluated databases, 3) Uncertainty estimates of theoretical data, 4) Experimental data evaluation, 5) Data evaluation methods and semi-empirical fits and 6) Establishment of an evaluators' network. The discussions and conclusions are summarized here.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

An in situ accelerator-based diagnostic for plasma-material interactions science on magnetic fusion devices

This paper presents a novel particle accelerator-based diagnostic that nondestructively measures the evolution of material surface compositions inside magnetic fusion devices. The diagnostic's purpose is to contribute to an integrated understanding of plasma-material interactions in magnetic fusion, which is severely hindered by a dearth of in situ material surface diagnosis. The diagnostic aims to remotely generate isotopic concentration maps on a plasma shot-to-shot timescale that cover a large fraction of the plasma-facing surface inside of a magnetic fusion device without the need for vacuum breaks or physical access to the material surfaces. Our instrument uses a compact (∼1 m), high-current (∼1 milliamp) radio-frequency quadrupole accelerator to inject 0.9 MeV deuterons into the Alcator C-Mod tokamak at MIT. We control the tokamak magnetic fields – in between plasma shots – to steer the deuterons to material surfaces where the deuterons cause high-Q nuclear reactions with low-Z isotopes ∼5 μm into the material. The induced neutrons and gamma rays are measured with scintillation detectors; energy spectra analysis provides quantitative reconstruction of surface compositions. An overview of the diagnostic technique, known as accelerator-based in situ materials surveillance (AIMS), and the first AIMS diagnostic on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak is given. Experimental validation is shown to demonstrate that an optimized deuteron beam is injected into the tokamak, that low-Z isotopes such as deuterium and boron can be quantified on the material surfaces, and that magnetic steering provides access to different measurement locations. The first AIMS analysis, which measures the relative change in deuterium at a single surface location at the end of the Alcator C-Mod FY2012 plasma campaign, is also presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Beyond ITER: Neutral beams for a demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO) (invited)

In the development of magnetically confined fusion as an economically sustainable power source, International Tokamak Experimental Reactor (ITER) is currently under construction. Beyond ITER is the demonstration fusion reactor (DEMO) programme in which the physics and engineering aspects of a future fusion power plant will be demonstrated. DEMO will produce net electrical power. The DEMO programme will be outlined and the role of neutral beams for heating and current drive will be described. In particular, the importance of the efficiency of neutral beam systems in terms of injected neutral beam power compared to wallplug power will be discussed. Options for improving this efficiency including advanced neutralisers and energy recovery are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Linear and nonlinear physics of the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability of fusion-born ions in relation to ion cyclotron emission

The magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability (MCI) probably underlies observations of ion cyclotron emission (ICE) from energetic ion populations in tokamak plasmas, including fusion-born alpha-particles in JET and TFTR [Dendy et al., Nucl. Fusion 35, 1733 (1995)]. ICE is a potential diagnostic for lost alpha-particles in ITER; furthermore, the MCI is representative of a class of collective instabilities, which may result in the partial channelling of the free energy of energetic ions into radiation, and away from collisional heating of the plasma. Deep understanding of the MCI is thus of substantial practical interest for fusion, and the hybrid approximation for the plasma, where ions are treated as particles and electrons as a neutralising massless fluid, offers an attractive way forward. The hybrid simulations presented here access MCI physics that arises on timescales longer than can be addressed by fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations and by analytical linear theory, which the present simulations largely corroborate. Our results go further than previous studies by entering into the nonlinear stage of the MCI, which shows novel features. These include stronger drive at low cyclotron harmonics, the re-energisation of the alpha-particle population, self-modulation of the phase shift between the electrostatic and electromagnetic components, and coupling between low and high frequency modes of the excited electromagnetic field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fusion proton diagnostic for the C-2 field reversed configuration

Measurements of the flux of fusion products from high temperature plasmas provide valuable insights into the ion energy distribution, as the fusion reaction rate is a very sensitive function of ion energy. In C-2, where field reversed configuration plasmas are formed by the collision of two compact toroids and partially sustained by high power neutral beam injection [M. Binderbauer et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 045003 (2010); M. Tuszewski et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 255008 (2012)], measurements of DD fusion neutron flux are used to diagnose ion temperature and study fast ion confinement and dynamics. In this paper, we will describe the development of a new 3 MeV proton detector that will complement existing neutron detectors. The detector is a large area (50 cm{sup 2}), partially depleted, ion implanted silicon diode operated in a pulse counting regime. While the scintillator-based neutron detectors allow for high time resolution measurements (∼100 kHz), they have no spatial or energy resolution. The proton detector will provide 10 cm spatial resolution, allowing us to determine if the axial distribution of fast ions is consistent with classical fast ion theory or whether anomalous scattering mechanisms are active. We will describe in detail the diagnostic design and present initial data from a neutral beam test chamber.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Fusion utility in the Knudsen layer

In inertial confinement fusion, the loss of fast ions from the edge of the fusing hot-spot region reduces the reactivity below its Maxwellian value. The loss of fast ions may be pronounced because of the long mean free paths of fast ions, compared with those of thermal ions. We introduce a fusion utility function to demonstrate essential features of this Knudsen layer effect, in both magnetized and unmagnetized cases. The fusion utility concept is also used to evaluate the restoring reactivity in the Knudsen layer by manipulating fast ions in phase space using waves.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Research on anisotropy of fusion-produced protons and neutrons emission from high-current plasma-focus discharges

The paper concerns fast protons and neutrons from D-D fusion reactions in a Plasma-Focus-1000U facility. Measurements were performed with nuclear-track detectors arranged in “sandwiches” of an Al-foil and two PM-355 detectors separated by a polyethylene-plate. The Al-foil eliminated all primary deuterons, but was penetrable for fast fusion protons. The foil and first PM-355 detector were penetrable for fast neutrons, which were converted into recoil-protons in the polyethylene and recorded in the second PM-355 detector. The “sandwiches” were irradiated by discharges of comparable neutron-yields. Analyses of etched tracks and computer simulations of the fusion-products behavior in the detectors were performed.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2017

Zonal flow generation in inertial confinement fusion implosions

A supervised machine learning algorithm trained on a multi-petabyte dataset of inertial confinement fusion simulations has identified a class of implosions that robustly achieve high yield, even in the presence of drive variations and hydrodynamic perturbations. These implosions are purposefully driven with a time-varying asymmetry, such that coherent flow generation during hotspot stagnation forces the capsule to self-organize into an ovoid, a shape that appears to be more resilient to shell perturbations than spherical designs. Here this new class of implosions, whose configurations are reminiscent of zonal flows in magnetic fusion devices, may offer a path to robust inertial fusion.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Axial magnetic field injection in magnetized liner inertial fusion

MagLIF is a fusion concept using a Z-pinch implosion to reach thermonuclear fusion. In current experiments, the implosion is driven by the Z-machine using 19 MA of electrical current with a rise time of 100 ns. MagLIF requires an initial axial magnetic field of 30 T to reduce heat losses to the liner wall during compression and to confine alpha particles during fusion burn. This field is generated well before the current ramp starts and needs to penetrate the transmission lines of the pulsed-power generator, as well as the liner itself. Consequently, the axial field rise time must exceed hundreds of microseconds. Any coil capable of being submitted to such a field for that length of time is inevitably bulky. The space required to fit the coil near the liner, increases the inductance of the load. In turn, the total current delivered to the load decreases since the voltage is limited by driver design. Yet, the large amount of current provided by the Z-machine can be used to produce the required 30 T field by tilting the return current posts surrounding the liner, eliminating the need for a separate coil. However, the problem now is the field penetration time, across the liner wall. This paper discusses why skin effect arguments do not hold in the presence of resistivity gradients. Numerical simulations show that fields larger than 30 T can diffuse across the liner wall in less than 60 ns, demonstrating that external coils can be replaced by return current posts with optimal helicity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

A comprehensive alpha-heating model for inertial confinement fusion

In this paper, a comprehensive model is developed to study alpha-heating in inertially confined plasmas. It describes the time evolution of a central low-density hot spot confined by a compressible shell, heated by fusion alphas, and cooled by radiation and thermal losses. The model includes the deceleration, stagnation, and burn phases of inertial confinement fusion implosions, and is valid for sub-ignited targets with ≤10× amplification of the fusion yield from alpha-heating. The results of radiation-hydrodynamic simulations are used to derive realistic initial conditions and dimensionless parameters for the model. It is found that most of the alpha energy (~90%) produced before bang time is deposited within the hot spot mass, while a small fraction (~10%) drives mass ablation off the inner shell surface and its energy is recycled back into the hot spot. Of the bremsstrahlung radiation emission, ~40% is deposited in the hot spot, ~40% is recycled back in the hot spot by ablation off the shell, and ~20% leaves the hot spot. We show here that the hot spot, shocked shell, and outer shell trajectories from this analytical model are in good agreement with simulations. Finally, a detailed discussion of the effect of alpha-heating on the hydrodynamics is also presented.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

On the importance of minimizing “coast-time” in x-ray driven inertially confined fusion implosions

By the time an inertially confined fusion (ICF) implosion has converged a factor of 20, its surface area has shrunk 400×, making it an inefficient x-ray energy absorber. So, ICF implosions are traditionally designed to have the laser drive shut off at a time, toff, well before bang-time, tBT, for a coast-time of tcoast=tBT−toff>1 ns. High-foot implosions on NIF showed a strong dependence of many key ICF performance quantities on reduced coast-time (by extending the duration of laser power after the peak power is first reached), most notably stagnation pressure and fusion yield. Herein we show that the ablation pressure, pabl, which drives high-foot implosions, is essentially triangular in temporal shape, and that reducing tcoast boosts pabl by as much as ∼2× prior to stagnation thus increasing fuel and hot-spot compression and implosion speed. One-dimensional simulations are used to track hydrodynamic characteristics for implosions with various coast-times and various assumed rates of hohlraum cooling after toff to illustrate how the late-time conditions exterior to the implosion can impact the fusion performance. A simple rocket model-like analytic theory demonstrates that reducing coast-time can lead to a ∼15% higher implosion velocity because the reduction in x-ray absorption efficiency at late-time is somewhat compensated by small (∼5%−10%) ablator mass remaining. Together with the increased ablation pressure, the additional implosion speed for short coast-time implosions can boost the stagnation pressure by ∼2× as compared to a longer coast-time version of the same implosion. Four key dimensionless parameters are identified and we find that reducing coast-time to as little as 500 ps still provides some benefit. Finally, we show how the high-foot implosion data is consistent with the above mentioned picture.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

A conservative approach to scaling magneto-inertial fusion concepts to larger pulsed-power drivers

The Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experimental platform [M. R. Gomez et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, 155003 (2014)] represents the most successful demonstration of magneto-inertial fusion (MIF) techniques to date in pursuit of ignition and significant fusion yields. The pressing question remains regarding how to scale MIF concepts like MagLIF to more powerful pulsed-power drivers while avoiding significant changes in physical regimes that could adversely impact performance. In this work, we propose a conservative approach for scaling general MIF implosions, including MagLIF. Underpinning our scaling approach is a theoretical framework describing the evolution of the trajectory and thickness of a thin-walled, cylindrical, current-driven shell imploding on preheated, adiabatic fuel. By imposing that scaled implosions remain self-similar, we obtain a set of scaling rules expressing key target design parameters and performance metrics as functions of the maximum driver current I max . We identify several scaling paths offering unique, complementary benefits and trade-offs in terms of physics risks and driver requirements. Remarkably, when scaling present-day experiments to higher coupled energies, these paths are predicted to preserve or reduce the majority of known performance-degrading effects, including hydrodynamic instabilities, impurity mix, fuel energy losses, and laser-plasma interactions, with notable exceptions clearly delineated. In the absence of α heating, our scaling paths exhibit neutron yield per-unit-length scaling as $\tilde{Y}$∝[I$3\atop{max}$,I${4.14}\atop{max}$] and ignition parameter scaling as χ∝[I max ,I${2.14}\atop{max}$]. By considering the specific physics risks unique to each scaling path, we provide a roadmap for future investigations to evaluate different scaling options through detailed numerical studies and scaling-focused experiments on present-day facilities. Overall, these results highlight the potential of MIF as a key component of the national ignition effort.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Z-pinch fusion

The Z-pinch configuration offers the promise of a compact fusion device owing to its simple geometry, unity beta, and absence of external magnetic field coils. Increasing the axial current compresses the plasma, resulting in a rapid rise of the fusion reaction rate. Historically, the Z pinch has been plagued by fast growing instabilities that limit plasma lifetimes. Recent progress has resulted from investigating approaches that provide stability. One approach exploits sheared-flow stabilization to produce an equilibrium Z pinch, which sustains the compressed plasma state for durations much longer than other plasma timescales. Recent experimental and simulation results encourage pursuit of the stabilized Z pinch to explore its fusion performance limits.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Developing “inverted-corona” fusion targets as high-fluence neutron sources

We present experimental studies of inverted-corona targets as neutron sources at the OMEGA Laser Facility and the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Laser beams are directed onto the inner walls of a capsule via laser-entrance holes (LEHs), heating the target interior to fusion conditions. The fusion fuel is provided either as a wall liner, e.g., deuterated plastic (CD), or as a gas fill, e.g., D 2 gas. Such targets are robust to low-mode drive asymmetries, allowing for single-sided laser drive. On OMEGA, 1.8-mm-diameter targets with either a 10-μm CD liner or up to 2 atm of D 2 -gas fill were driven with up to 18 kJ of laser energy in a 1-ns square pulse. Neutron yields of up to 1.5 × 1010 generally followed expected trends with fill pressure or laser energy, although the data imply some mix of the CH wall into the fusion fuel for either design. Comparable performance was observed with single-sided (1x LEH) or double-sided (2x LEH) drive. NIF experiments tested the platform at scaled up dimensions and energies, combining a 15-μm CD liner and a 3-atm D2-gas fill in a 4.5-mm diameter target, laser-driven with up to 330 kJ. Neutron yields up to 2.6 × 10 12 were measured, exceeding the scaled yield expectation from the OMEGA data. The observed energy scaling on the NIF implies that the neutron production is gas dominated, suggesting a performance boost from using deuterium–tritium (DT) gas. In this work, we estimate that neutron yields exceeding 10 14 should be readily achievable using a modest laser drive of ~300 kJ with a DT fill.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗