New critical assessments of chamber and wall response to target implosion in inertial fusion reactors

The chamber walls in inertial fusion energy (IFE) reactors are exposed to harsh conditions following each target implosion. Key issues of the cyclic IFE operation include intense photon and ion deposition, wall thermal and hydrodynamic evolution, wall erosion and fatigue lifetime, and chamber clearing and evacuation to ensure desirable conditions prior to next target implosion. Several methods for wall protection have been proposed in the past, each having its own advantages and disadvantages. These methods include use of solid bare walls, gas-filled cavities, and liquid walls/jets. Detailed models have been developed for reflected laser light, emitted photons, neutrons, and target debris deposition and interaction with chamber components and have been implemented in the comprehensive HEIGHTS software package. The hydrodynamic response of gas-filled cavities and photon radiation transport of the deposited energy have been calculated by means of new and advanced numerical techniques for accurate shock treatment and propagation. Photon radiation transport models are developed for either the gas-filled cavity or in the evolving vapor cloud layer above the wall surface. The focus of this work is to examine the overall wall response and lifetime due to various erosion mechanisms. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.