New initiatives in laser driven fusion--fision

It was demonstrated that fusion-fission hybrids exhibit the best energy multiplication and fissile fuel production performance when the region closest to the fusion source is a uranium fast-fission blanket, and the potential of this type of blanket was explored with two different after-blanket options: A 233U-producing thorium after-blanket, and a power-producing thermal lattice. The neutronic analysis of the thorium after-blanket option leads one to conclude that one can design a laser fusion driven hybrid which multiplies the fusion neutron energy by a factor of five and produces enough 233U to fuel more than ten thermal burner reactors of equivalent thermal power. With capital costs in the neighborhood of three times an LWR, the cost of electricity in the combined hybrid-burner reactor scenario can be expected to increase less than 30% over present prices