PROPAGATION OF FUSION DETONATIONS IN CYLINDRICAL CHANNELS

The difficulties of igniting advanced fuels by imploding a spherical t arget (such as AFLINT) are briefly reviewed. Most of these difficultie s appear to be avoidable in cylindrical targets. The feasibility of th is concept depends on the minimum radius a(min) of the channel in whic h a fusion detonation can propagate. An approximate criterion for the propagation of a DT and DD nuclear detonation in a narrow channel is d erived and it is suggested that a Z-pinch on a DT-DD fibre could provi de suitable means for the triggering and the propagation of such a det onation.