Linear plasma-based tritium production facility

The concept presented here is an adaptation of a recently completed conceptual design of a compact high-fluence D-T neutron source for accelerated end-of-life testing of fusion reactor materials. Although this preliminary assessment serves to illustrate the main features of a linear plasma-based tritium breeder, it is not necessarily an optimized design. We believe that proper design choices for the breeder application will certainly reduce costs, perhaps as much as a factor of two. We also point out that Q (the ratio of fusion power produced to power input to the plasma) increases with system length and that the cost per kg of tritium decreases for longer systems with higher output. In earlier studies of linear two-component plasma systems, Q values as high as three were predicted. At this level of performance and with energy recovery, operating power requirements of the breeder could approach zero. 5 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab