DOE OSTI2012
In a PHYSOR 2010 paper(1) we introduced a fusion hybrid reactor whose fusion component is the gasdynamic mirror (GDM), and whose blanket was made of thorium - 232. The thrust of that study was to demonstrate the performance of such a reactor by establishing the breeding of uranium - 233 in the blanket, and the burning thereof to produce power. In that analysis, we utilized the diffusion equation for one-energy neutron group, namely, those produced by the fusion reactions, to establish the power distribution and density in the system. Those results should be viewed as a first approximation since the high energy neutrons are not effective in inducing fission, but contribute primarily to the production of actinides. In the presence of a coolant, however, such as water, these neutrons tend to thermalize rather quickly, hence a better assessment of the reactor performance would require at least a two group analysis, namely the fast and thermal groups. We follow that approach and write an approximate set of equations for the fluxes of these groups. From these relations we deduce the all-important quantity, k{sub eff}, which we utilize to compute the multiplication factor, and subsequently, the power density in the reactor. We show that k{sub eff} can be made to have a value of 0.99, thus indicating that 100 thermal neutrons are generated per fusion neutron, while allowing the system to function as 'subcritical.' Moreover, we show that such a hybrid reactor can generate hundreds of megawatts of thermal power per cm of length depending on the flux of the fusion neutrons impinging on the blanket. (authors)
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗