Neutral Beams for Neutron Generation in Fusion Neutron Sources

Abstract

Neutral beam injection is supposed to be the main source of high-energy particles, driving non-inductive current and generating primary neutrons in fusion neutron sources design based on tokamaks. Numerical simulation of high-energy particles’ thermalization in plasma and fusion neutron emission is calculated by novel dedicated software (NESTOR code). The neutral beam is reproduced statistically by up to 109 injected particles. The beam efficiency and contribution to primary neutron generation is shown to be dependent on the injection energy, input current, and plasma temperature profile. A beam-driven plasma operation scenario, specific for FNS design, enables the fusion rate and neutron generation in plasma volume to be controlled by the beam parameters; the resultant primary neutron yield can be efficiently boosted in plasma maintained at a relatively low temperature when compared to ‘pure’ fusion reactors. NESTOR results are applicable to high-precision nuclear and power balance estimations, neutron power loads distribution among tokamak components, tritium generation in hybrid reactors, and for many other tasks critical for FNS design.