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Final Report
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
FUSION REACTION CHAMBER AND
POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM STUDY
by
I. MAYA,
K.
R. SCHULTZ, UhQTfft
and PROJECT STAFF
W*
Work supported by
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Subcontract 2632605 under
Department of Energy Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48
OCTOBER 1985
DCRL—15750
DE86
006725
Final
Report
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
FUSION REACTION CHAMBER AND
POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM STUDY
by
I. MAYA R.J. PRICE
K.R.SCHULTZ J.PORTER
R.F. BOURQUE H.L SCHUSTER
E.T. CHENG M.T. SIMNAD*
R.L. CREEDON D.L SONN
J.H.NORMAN INGTANG
R.K. WISE
Work supported by
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Subcontract 2632605 under
Department of Energy Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48
*UDiversity of California, San Diego
GA PROJECT 3400
OCTOBER 1985
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DISCLAIMER
This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United Stales
Government. Neither the United Slates Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their
c^ioyees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsi-
bility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or
process disclosed, or represents that its ase would not infringe privately Oxned rigors. Refer-
ence herein lo any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark,
manufacturer, or clherwise docs not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recom-
mendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views
and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the
United Stales Government or any agency thereof.
Abstract
This report summarizes the results of the second year of a two-year study on the
design and evaluation of the Cascade concept as a commercial inertia! confinement fusion
(ICF) reactor. We developed a reactor design based on the Cascade reaction chamber
concept that would be competitive in terms of both capital and operating costs, safe
and environmentally acceptable in terms of hazard to the public, occupational exposure
and radioactive waste production, and highly efficient. The Cascade reaction chamber
is a double-cone-shaped rotating drum. The granulated solid blanket materials inside
the rotating chamber are held against the walls by centrifugal force. The fusion energy
is captured in a blanket of solid carbon, BeO, and LiA10
2
granules. These granules
are circulated to the primary side of a ceramic heat exchanger. Primary-side granule
temperatures range from 1285 K at the LiAlOj granule heat exchanger outlet to 1600 K
at the carbon granule heat exchanger inlet. The secondary side consists of a closed-cycle
gas turbine power conversion system with helium working fluid, operating at 1300 K peak
outlet temperature and achieving a thermal power conversion efficiency of
55%.
The net
plant efficiency is 49%. The reference design is a plant producing 1500 MW of D-T fusion
power and delivering 815 MW of electrical power for sale to the utility grid.
The Cascade plant possesses many inherent (passive) safety features which may avoid
the need for nuclear-grade systems and components and dedicated safety systems, may
allow use of conventional construction methods, and may prevent public exposure doses
above regulatory limits or reactor damage during postulated accident events. The cap-
ital cost of the Cascade plant with conventional construction is $1500M ($1800/kWe),
resulting in a Cost-of-Electricity (COE) of
34
mills/kWe-hr. The capital cost of the Cas-
cade plant with nuclear-graae cor struct ion and component qualification would be S1900M
($2400/kWe), resulting in a COE of
41
mills/kWe-hr. In either case, these costs are com-
petitive with the 37, 40, and 49 mills/kWe-hr costs for LWR, HTGR, and coal plants
calculated using the same economic groundrules.
iii
Contents
Abstract
iii
1.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
l-i
1.1. Introduction
1-1
1.2. Summary and Conclusions
1-3
References
1-18
2.
HIGH-TEMPERATURE BLANKET DESIGN OPTIONS
2-1
2.1.
Introduction
2-1
2.2 High-Temperature Material Options
2-2
2.2.1.
Introduction
... 2-2
2.2.2.
High-Temperature Material Properties
2-2
2.2.3.
Irradiation Stability
2-5
2.2.4. Granule Fabricability
2-9
2.3.
Compatibility Temperature Limits
2-10
2.4.
Thermodynamics of Blanket Options
2-18
2.4.1.
Introduction
2-18
2.4.2.
Preliminary Thennodynamic Performance Comparison
2-20
2.4.3.
Reference Blanket Design
2-25
References
2-34
3. POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM DESIGN
3-1
3.1.
Introduction
3-1
3.2.
Survey of Secondary System Options
3-1
3.2.1.
Introduction and Power Cycle Options
3-1
3.2.2.
Steam Cycle
3-5
3.2.3.
Brayton Cycle
3-7
3.2.4.
Field Cycle
3-10
