Electrical Energy Requirements for ATW and Fusion Neutrons
Authors: D.L. Jassby and J.A. Schmidt
Date of PPPL Report: February 2000
Published in: Fusion Science and Technology 40 (July 2001) 52-55. Note: Title and author listing changed to Electrical Energy Requirements for Accelerator and Fusion Neutrons by Daniel L. Jassby and John A. Schmidt.
This note compares the electrical energy requirements of accelerator (ATW) and fusion plants designed to transmute nuclides of fission wastes. Both systems use the same blanket concept but for each source neutron the fusion system must utilize one blanket neutron for tritium breeding. The ATW and fusion plants are found to have the same electrical energy requirement per available blanket neutron when the blanket coverage is comparable and fusion Q is approximately equal to 1, but the fusion plant has only a fraction of the energy requirement when Q » 1. If the blanket thermal energy is converted to electricity, the fusion plant and ATW have comparable net electrical energy outputs per available neutron when Q is greater than or equal to 2.