Conceptual design of 1200 MWth laser fusion reactor in ILE Osaka University

The design of a 1200 MW (thermal) commercial inertial confinemtnt fusion (ICF) reactor has been made. The original design of the reactor utilizes thick Li flow inside a spherical cavity to moderate the first wall loading and neutron fluence on solid structural materials. This Li flow is also used as the inner blanket, and is guided by steady magnetic field to form the desired Li flow. From the analysis of laser-drived fusion reaction, the scaling law for pellet gains was derived, and it was found that a 1 MJ laser would be sufficient for a 1200 MW (thermal) fusion reactor. A CO2 laser system was chosen as the 1 MJ energy driver. The examination of idea of the inner blanket of thick Li flow led to the conclusion that the Li flow inner blanket could be realized. The thermal problems in the first wall, the structural problems of the reactor cavity, the method of pellet injection, the cooling system of the reactor, and the neutronics in the blanket were studied. It was shown that the breeding ratio of tritium in Li blanket was greater than unity by the calculation with the one-dimensional neutron transport code ANISN. A laser fusion power system with high pellet gain is much more effective than steam power plants of today. (Kato, T.)