Simulation of a pulsed power scheme feeding a dense Z-pinch plasma load

The dense Z-pinch plasma confinement configuration has been proposed as the basis for a compact nuclear fusion reactor. The reactor is envisaged as operating in a repetitive pulsed mode, pulse conditions of 1.4 MA, 2 μs and a rep. rate of 50 Hz being typical of those required. Simulations, incorporating a simple inductor model of the plasma pinch, of a three stage, magnetic switch based pulse-compression scheme are presented which demonstrate the possibility of recovering some of the substantial magnetic energy associated with the pinch at peak current. In a second set of simulations, the varying resistance and inductance of the pinch were estimated at each time step. Increases occur in each as temperature and radiative phenomena grow and pinch radius falls. These affect the current wave shape and ultimately the recovery fraction and overall fusion energy yield