Inertial-confinement ion-beam wet-wood-burner fusion neutron source

The scientific feasibility of a wet-wood-burner (WWB) concept of a fusion neutron source that is based on direct interaction between a deuterium ion beam and a tritium target is investigated. Simple one- and two-dimensional analytic models are developed and used for estimating the range of neutron yields and fusion energy gains, Q, attainable from the inertial confinement ion beam WWB (IWWB) concept as a function of the initial target density, beams ion energy, power density, total energy and, in the 2-D model, also beam radius. The performance and properties of the IWWB concept proposed are compared with those of inertially confined ion-beam fusion concepts based on thermonuclear burn (ITNB) and with those of magnetic confinement WWB (MWWB) concepts. It is found that for beam power densities smaller than about 10¹⁵W·cm⁻², IWWBs offer higher Q values than ITNBs. The maximal Q-value attainable by IWWBs is approximately five, higher than that attainable from MWWBs.