Analysis of steady-state and pulsed operating regimes for controlled thermonuclear reactors with very large power ratings

The operating regimes of large CTR's are identified and examined for cases of steady-state and pulsed operation. Several technological benefits of these large reactors are determined: (1) low maximum magnetic field strength requirements (25 to 50 percent less than for 5000 MW(th) reactors), (2) high n tau products (1015 to 1017 sec/cm3) with associated high burn-up fractions (10 to 50 percent), (3) relatively little problem with impurity build-up, and (4) long confinement times (50 to 500 seconds). The advantages of pulsed operation are also discussed: (1) smaller problem with impurities than in the steady-state case, (2) alleviation of any possible fueling difficulties, and (3) no problem with control of temperature in the pulsed reactor based on a simple control function model incorporating a finite delay time