Contribution of external neutron sources to excess neutron generation

In the development of self-consistent nuclear energy systems, excess neutron generation is essential, especially for the transmutation of fission products. External neutron sources developed on the basis of accelerator and fusion technologies were studied to improve excess neutron generation possibilities. Since neutron production is inevitably accompanied by energy consumption, the net energy output from the system will be affected by excess neutron generation. A new methodology for the estimation of the efficiency of excess neutron generation was developed. A comparative analysis of various external neutron sources was performed on the basis of proposed evaluation functions. One of these was excess neutron cost, defined as the energy needed to generate one excess neutron. The other was the utilization factor for energy production, defined as the ratio of net energy output of total energy produced in the system. It is demonstrated in the following paper that plasma fusion technology will, in the near future, offer promising possibilities for excess neutron generation for application in self-consistent nuclear energy systems. (orig.)