Accelerator based fusion reactor

TL;DRAbstract

A feasibility study of fusion reactors based on accelerators is carried out. We consider a novel scheme where a beam from the accelerator hits the target plasma on the resonance of the fusion reaction and establish characteristic criteria for a workable reactor. We consider the reactions d+t→n+α, d+3He→p+α and p+11B→3α in this study. The critical temperature of the plasma is determined from overcoming the stopping power of the beam with the fusion energy gain. The needed plasma lifetime is determined from the width of the resonance, the beam velocity and the plasma density. We estimate the critical beam flux by balancing the energy of fusion production against the plasma thermo-energy and the loss due to stopping power for the case of an inert plasma. The product of critical flux and plasma lifetime is independent of plasma density and has a weak dependence on temperature. Even though the critical temperatures for these reactions are lower than those for the thermonuclear reactors, the

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