CRYOGENIC HYDROGEN FUEL FOR CONTROLLED INERTIAL CONFINEMENT FUSION (FORMATION OF REACTOR-SCALED CRYOGENIC TARGETS)
In inertial fusion power research, a considerable attention has recently been focused on the ability to inexpensively fabricate large quantities of targets by developing a specialized layering module of repeatable operation. The targets must be free-standing, or unfixed. Therefore, the development of a target factory for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is centered at methods that can ensure a cost-effective target production with high-repeatability. Tritium inventory minimization (i.e. minimization of time and space for all production steps) is a necessary condition as well. Additionally, the cryogenic hydrogen fuel inside the targets must have such a structure (ultrafine layers - the grain size should be scaled back into the nanometer range), which supports the fuel layer survivability under target injection and transport through the reactor chamber. To meet the above requirements, at the Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), significant progress has been made in the technology development based on rapid fuel layering inside moving free-standing targets, which refers to as FST (free-standing target) layering method. As a result of research, the LPI gained a unique experience in the development of the FST-layering module for target fabrication with an ultrafine fuel layer, including a reactor-scaled target design. This experience will be used at the development of the next-generation FST-layering module for construction of a prototype of the target factory for power laser facilities and inertial fusion power plants.