Importance of radiation effects in ion-beam-driven inertial fusion target calculations: Compensation of range shortening by radiation transport in ion-beam-generated plasmas.

In this paper computer simulation results showing that radiation can compensate for range shortening in ion-beam inertial fusion targets are presented. Simulation results of ablation, compression, ignition, burn, and hydrodynamic stability of a heavy ion-beam-driven, reactor-size, inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target including radiation transport are also reported. In this target design the fuel is protected against radiative preheat by a high-Z, high-ρ lead radiation shield, and the fuel is separated from the radiation shield by a low-Z, low-ρ lithium cushion. This avoids mixing of the lead from the radiation shield into the fuel at the end of the implosion. The target is driven by 10 GeV Bi++ ions, and it yields an output energy of ∼690 MJ for an imput energy of ∼4.56 MJ, so that the overall target gain is ∼152. The peak power in the input pulse is 500 TW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]