On the dependence of Reaction-in-flight (RIF) neutron production upon ion-stopping power models in Inertial Confinement Fusion
ORAL
Abstract
Reaction-in-Flight (RIF) neutrons are generated with energies up to 30-MeV by knock-on deuterium and tritium ions undergoing DT fusion. The knock-on ions are generated from elastic scatting from 14-MeV neutrons or nuclear elastic scattering of 3.5-MeV alpha particles. The production of RIF neutrons depends on the energy loss of the knock-on ions as they traverse an igniting plasma. In this work, we present a semi-analytic model for the RIF neutron spectrum which accounts for the plasma geometry. Currently, this model is applied to Los Alamos' campaign to achieve volumetric ignition via double-shell implosions. The semi-analytic model was used to understand the effect of uncertainties in ion-stopping power model on the RIF neutron spectrum in a Bayesian framework. This model extends previous semi-analytic RIF neutron models and enables a reconstruction of the burning plasma conditions using the primary (~14-MeV), down-scatter (10-12 MeV), and RIF (>20 MeV) neutron yield measurements. Applying the model to interpret RIF neutron spectra emitted from hot-spot ignition geometries will also be discussed.
*This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by Triad National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration of U.S. Department of Energy (Contract No. 89233218CNA000001). Research presented in this presentation was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program of Los Alamos National Laboratory under project number 20230867PRD3.
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Presenters
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Patrick J Adrian
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)