Shrapnel Formation in a Z-pinch Power Plant

The mainline Z-pinch IFE power plant design has a recyclable transmission line (RTL) that drives a fusion capsule with output energy in the range of about 3 GJ. Neutron deposition in the RTL heats the baseline RTL. The deposition of the X-ray energy will result in a shock driven into the solid and the acceleration of the unablated high density portion of the RTL outward, perpendicular to the RTL. The developed scaling laws shows that which sections of the RTL are fragmented into vapor, liquid, ductile, and brittle metal. A schematic drawing of the baseline RTL along with the FLIBE insert with shields the upper portion of the fusion reaction chamber of the RTL cones is shown. The 3-D MHD code Alegra is used to perform 1-D spherical calculations using a very simplified model of the RTL. The conclusion is that brittle and ductile shrapnel is eliminated if the axial coordinate of the bottom of the FLIBE foam insert is z_c<15 cm where z_c is the axial distance. Thus the shrapnel is eliminated by proper design of the RTL