Nuclear design considerations for Z-IFE chambers

Z-pinch driven IFE (Z-IFE) requires the design of a repetitive target insertion system that allows coupling of the pulsed power to the target with adequate standoff, and a chamber that can withstand blast and radiation effects from large yield targets. The present strategy for Z-IFE is to use high yield targets (∼2–3 GJ/shot), low repetition rate per chamber (∼0.1 Hz), and 10 chambers per power plant. In this study, we propose an alternative power plant configuration that uses very high yield targets (20 GJ/shot) in a single chamber operating at 0.1 Hz. A thick-liquid-wall chamber is proposed to absorb the target emission (X-rays, debris and neutrons) and mitigate the blast effects on the chamber wall. The target is attached to the end of a conical shaped recyclable transmission line (RTL) made from a solid coolant (e.g., frozen flibe), or a material that is easily separable from the coolant (e.g., steel). The RTL/target assembly is inserted through a single opening at the top of the chamber for each shot. This study looks at the RTL material choice from a safety and environmental point of view. Materials were assessed according to waste disposal rating (WDR) and contact dose rate (CDR). Neutronics calculations, using the TART2002 Monte Carlo code from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), were performed for the RTL and Z-IFE chamber, and key results reported here.