Acceleration systems for heavy-ion beams for inertial confinement fusion

Heavy-ion beam pulse parameters needed to achieve useful electric power generation through inertial confinement fusion have been set forth by Nuckolls [1]. For successful ignition of a high-gain D-T target a few magajoules of energy per pulse, delivered at a peak power of several hundred terawatts, are needed; it must be deposited with an energy density of 20-30 magajoules per gram of the target material on which it impinges. Additional requirements must be met if this form of fusion is to be used for practical power generation; for example, the igniter system for a 1 GWe power plant should have a repetition rate in the neighborhood of 1-10 Hz, an overall electrical conversion efficiency from mains to beam of greater than 10%, and high availability. At present under discussion are the needs for a Heavy-Ion Demonstration Experiment (HIDE); an example set of parameters is given in Table 1 for comparison with those for a power plant.