A Reactor Development Scenario for the FUZE Shear-flow Stabilized Z-pinch

We present a conceptual design, scaling calculations, and a development path for a pulsed fusion reactor based on the shear-flow-stabilized Z-pinch device. Experiments performed on the ZaP device [U. Shumlak, et. al., Nucl. Fusion 49 (2009) 075039] have demonstrated stable operation for $\sim$40 us at $\sim$150kA total discharge current (with $\sim$100kA in the pinch) for pinches that are $\sim$1cm in diameter and 100 cm long. Scaling calculations show that achieving stabilization for a pulse of $\sim$100 usec, for discharge current $\sim$1.5 MA, in a shortened pinch $\sim$50 cm, results in a pinch diameter of $\sim$200 um and a reactor plant Q$\sim$5 for reasonable assumptions of the various system efficiencies. We propose several key intermediate performance levels in order to justify further development. These include achieving operation at pinch currents of $\sim$300 kA, where Te and Ti are calculated to exceed 1 keV, $\sim$700 kA where fusion power exceeds pinch input power, and 1 MA where fusion energy per pulse exceeds input energy per pulse.