Near Term Applications of Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion Research

Abstract

For the past 15 years, the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been conducting experiments to demonstrate that there can be many near term applications of fusion research long before the production of electricity in commercial fusion power plants. This research has concentrated on three fuel cycles: DD, D³He, and ³He³He. Some of the major accomplishments are listed below:

a. The production of > 10⁸ DD neutrons per second on a steady state basis

b. The production of pulsed DD neutrons to over 10¹⁰ per second in 10Hz, 100 μs bursts.

c. The production of 14.7 MeV protons at > 10⁸ per second (steady state) from the D³He reaction.

d. Demonstrated the detection of the explosive C-4 with steady state DD neutrons.

e. Demonstrated the detection of Highly Enriched U (HEU) with pulsed DD neutron fluxes.

f. Production of the positron emission tomography (PET) isotopes, ^94mTc and ¹³Nusing D³He protons.

g. Production of the first measured ³He³He fusion reactions in an IEC device.

h. Development of unique diagnostic techniques to measure the rate, spectrum, and location of fusion reactions in IEC devices.

i. Use of an IEC device to study the behavior of materials at high temperature during charged particle bombardment.

The accomplishments above were carried out in 3 devices HOMER, ³HeCTRE, and HELIOS that have operated up to 180 kV and meter currents of 65 mA. New applications are currently being explored and expanded roles for the IEC device will be described.