Heavy Ion Accelerator–Driven Inertial Fusion

Abstract

The idea of using accelerators in the production of energy by inertial confinement fusion has been developed since the mid-1970s. The basic concept is to use accelerated beams of heavy ions to provide energy to implode and ignite a small fusion pellet. Accelerators have been seen as attractive for this application due to their reliability, high repetition rate, and potential efficiency. They are therefore competitive with high power lasers at least for the commercial production of electrical power. This review summarizes part of the development and scientific efforts directed toward this application, which has been realized over time to be an extremely demanding one. Here we focus primarily on the rf linac/storage ring driver system approach and summarize the specific development that culminated in the European HIDIF study of the late 1990s. We also discuss some of the relevant followup accelerator studies.