CALCULATIONAL METHOD FOR NEUTRON HEATING IN DENSE-PLASMA SYSTEMS .2. APPLICATION TO BURNING D-T PELLETS

The effect of neutron heating on the burn characteristics of inertial confinement fusion pellets is investigated by applying the calculation al method developed in an earlier paper (Part I). The basic equations are time-dependent transport equations for fusion neutrons and recoil ions, being written in terms of the modified Eulerian coordinates orig inally proposed by Wienke (1974). After incorporating these equations into the one-dimensional hydrodynamics code MEDUSA, burn simulations a re made for isobaric D-T pellets models compressed to 1,000 times the liquid density. It is found that in reactor-grade pellets, the inclusi on of neutron heating decreases the fuel gain from the values obtained by neglecting the neutron heating. Calculations neglecting the energy transport by recoil ions overestimate the neutron energy deposition t o plasma ions, The energy spectrum of neutrons emitted out of a typica l D-T burning pellet is also shown. These neutrons contain fast compon ents whose energies reach more than 20 MeV.