Two-dimensional nucleonics calculations for a ''FIRST STEP'' conceptual ICF reactor design

A detailed two-dimensional nucleonic analysis has been performed for the FIRST STEP conceptual ICF reactor blanket design. The reactor concept incorporated in this design is a modified wetted-wall cavity with target illumination geometry left as a design variable. The 2-m radius spherical cavity is surrounded by a blanket containing lithium and /sup 238/U as fertile species and also as energy multipliers. The blanket is configured as 0.6-m-thick cylindrical annuli containing modified LMFBR-type fuel elements with 0.5-m-thick fuel-bearing axial end plugs. Liquid lithium surrounds the inner blanket regions and serves as the coolant for both the blanket and the first wall. The two-dimensional analysis of the blanket performance was made using the 2-D discrete-ordinates code TRISM, and benchmarked with the 3-D Monte Carlo code MCNP. Integral responses including the tritium breeding ratio (TBR), plutonium breeding ration (PUBR), and blanket energy multiplication were calculated for axial and radial blanket regions. Spatial distributions were calculated for steady-state rates of fission, neutron heating, prompt gamma-ray heating, and fuel breeding