JP6653650B2 - Reactor - Google Patents

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 824,654, filed May 17, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference. PCT International Application Serial No. PCT / US14 / 38386 filed May 16, 2014, which is incorporated herein by reference. This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 907,169, filed November 21, 2013. US Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 61 / 907,169 is also incorporated herein by reference.

  The dielectric wall accelerator is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,944, which is incorporated herein by reference. The technical concept of U.S. Pat. No. 5,811,944 provided a substantial performance improvement over other existing technologies that were widespread at the time. Conceptually, the energy density, or rather the high voltage gradient, proposed in that concept was inconsistent with materials and technology at the time. While the concept can be effective, the combination of materials for the components is operated at its limits, and failure due to lifetime limitations has been a challenge for the equipment produced.

  Thus, the performance of the device is greatly dependent on the materials used to construct the device. In fact, available materials and fabrication techniques were major limiting factors.

  A low or high average power output gamma ray generation via relativistic electron impact on an elemental target with 90 or more nucleons, and an effective electron injector and accelerator for a compact free electron laser; Efficient and compact using neuronal spallation at low and high average power levels suitable for elemental conversion and power generation with options for effective remediation for radioisotopes released into any environment A number of example embodiments are provided, including, but not limited to, proton acceleration.

  A capacitor element for accelerating the charged particles, including a source of charged particles, including a cathode electrode and also including an anode electrode, and a conduit formed through the capacitor element for transmitting the charged particles; An emitter device is also provided wherein at least one of the electrode electrodes is at least partially coated with diamond or diamond-like carbon.

  A source of charged particles, a conduit, and a plurality of capacitor elements stacked to form a capacitor array, the capacitor array configured to accelerate the charged particles through the conduit formed through the capacitor array. Wherein each of the capacitor elements is configured to operate during discharge of the cathode electrode having a layer comprising diamond or diamond-like carbon, an anode electrode having a layer comprising diamond or diamond-like carbon, and discharge of the capacitor element. There is further provided an emitter device comprising a capacitor element, comprising a plurality of optical switches arranged around the capacitor element for cooling, and a cooling system for circulating a refrigerant in the device to cool the device. You.

  A source of charged particles, a conduit, and a plurality of capacitor elements stacked to form a capacitor array, the capacitor array configured to accelerate the charged particles through the conduit formed through the capacitor array. Wherein each of the capacitor elements comprises a cathode electrode having a layer comprising diamond or diamond-like carbon, an anode electrode having a layer comprising diamond or diamond-like carbon, and each comprising a diamond crystal; A capacitor element, including a plurality of optical switches, disposed around the capacitor element for operation during discharge of the capacitor element, and a cooling system for circulating a refrigerant within the device to cool the device. , Including guns as a result of accelerating the charged particles It is adapted to release the line, emitter device is also provided.

  A method for generating gamma rays using a particle accelerator device, comprising: generating a particle stream; and supplying the particle stream to a capacitor array, the capacitor array comprising a plurality of discharging stacked stacks. A capacitor, wherein each of the capacitors utilizes a diamond or diamond-like carbon coating on an electrode included in the capacitor, and one or more optical switches associated with the discharging capacitor. Accelerating the particle stream using the capacitor array by discharging the capacitors of the capacitor array using the method.

  Manufacturing a plurality of capacitor electrodes; coating each of the capacitor electrodes with diamond or diamond-like carbon; providing a plurality of optical switches; and manufacturing a plurality of capacitor elements. Wherein each of the capacitor elements includes a pair of electrodes and a plurality of optical switches, and stacking the plurality of capacitor elements on a core forming a conduit, comprising: Transmitting the particles to be transmitted through the core.

  Manufacturing a plurality of capacitor electrodes; coating each of the capacitor electrodes with diamond or diamond-like carbon; providing a plurality of optical switches, each including a diamond crystal; Manufacturing, wherein each of the capacitor elements includes a pair of electrodes and a plurality of optical switches, each of the capacitor elements including a space for forming at least one channel; Stacking a plurality of capacitor elements on a core forming at least one channel and a conduit through which accelerated particles are communicated, the at least one channel comprising a particle accelerator Coolant for cooling Manufacturing a particle accelerator, including a step, adapted to accommodate, and manufacturing a particle source, wherein the particle source is surrounded by a plurality of outer electrodes operated with a second polarity. Including an inner electrode operated with a first polarity and including a cooling system for cooling the particle source; and forming a particle source within the particle accelerator within the housing to form a gamma emitter device. And providing a method of manufacturing a gamma emitter device.

  A nuclear reactor using any of the above-described emitter devices to control the rate of reaction of fuel in the nuclear reactor is also provided. A decontamination device is also provided that uses any of the emitter devices described above to decontaminate a contaminated target.

  Housing a radioactive fuel source, an emitter device configured to generate gamma rays directed toward the radioactive fuel source to cause a nuclear reaction in the fuel source, and a radioactive fuel source and emitter device And a heat extraction system configured to extract heat from the reactor for transport outside the reactor.

  A radioactive fuel source and an emitter device configured to generate an energy beam directed toward the radioactive fuel source to cause a nuclear reaction in the fuel source, the source of charged particles each being A nuclear reactor is further provided that includes a plurality of capacitor elements for accelerating charged particles, including a pair of electrodes, and an emitter apparatus including a conduit formed through the capacitor elements for transmitting the charged particles. You. At least one of the capacitor electrodes is at least partially coated with diamond or diamond-like carbon.

  Further provided is the above reactor, further comprising a cooling system for cooling the eductor device, a radioactive fuel source, and a heat extraction system configured to extract heat from the reactor for transport outside the reactor. Is done.

  Also provided is a method of controlling a nuclear reaction in a nuclear fuel-containing reactor, comprising the steps of: producing a controlled gamma-ray beam; and directing the gamma-ray beam to the nuclear fuel to control the rate of radiolysis of the nuclear fuel. You.

  Providing an emitter device configured to generate gamma rays; providing a gamma ray focusing and directing device configured to direct gamma rays generated by the emitter device toward a contaminated target; Using the gamma rays emitted toward the radioactive target by the emitter device to at least partially decontaminate the target.

  An emitter device configured to generate an energy beam, a gamma ray focusing and directing device configured to direct an energy beam generated by the emitter device toward a contaminated target, an emitter device and a gamma ray focus A decontamination device is further provided, comprising a controller for controlling the guidance device and a mobile platform configured to transport the emitter device and the decontamination device.

  Additional example embodiments are also provided. Some, but not all, of such embodiments are described in more detail below.

  Features and advantages of the example embodiments described herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure relates upon reading the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a partial axial schematic view of an exemplary water-cooled particle injector (DPF) for use with a diamond dielectric wall accelerator (DDWA). FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary capacitor element in the dielectric wall accelerator region of an exemplary DDWA. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a cooling water jacket used with an exemplary DDWA. FIG. 3 is a schematic end view of an end capacitor element in the dielectric wall accelerator region of an exemplary DDWA with a cooling water jacket. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the end element of the exemplary DDWA of FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic virtual diagram illustrating a portion of an exemplary DDWA device. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary DDWA application used as a source for a gamma emitter. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the exemplary gamma ray emitter of FIG. 6 used in an exemplary nuclear reactor. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary gamma emitter using a pair of DDWAs used in an exemplary nuclear reactor. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary gamma emitter used in another exemplary nuclear reactor. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of a plurality of exemplary gamma emitters used in another exemplary nuclear reactor. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary fractured reactor. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary fracturing reactor using multiple gamma emitters. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary system for generating power using one of the exemplary nuclear reactors. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary mobile nuclear decontamination system.

  An example is presented of a diamond dielectric wall accelerator (DDWA) architecture with a design for the use of materials and fabrication techniques to create higher performance levels for such devices at significantly lower cost than conventional designs. . The proposed architecture incorporates practical means of building, mounting, and isolating very high operating voltages while cooling the device for high average power applications. While a high density plasma flux proton injector (DPF), which offers improvements over the existing apparatus described below with reference to FIG. 1, may also be utilized, DDWA requires several sources to provide the source particles. It is also possible to use any of the existing particle generator devices.

Throughout this specification, the term DLC is used to describe diamond-like carbon. Diamond-like carbon is a substance that can take various forms, but all exhibit properties similar to those of diamond (hardness and smoothness that provide good wear resistance) and have high electrical insulation properties. While obtaining, from good to excellent thermal conductivity performance (e.g., thermal conductivity in the metal range (tens to hundreds of W / m-K)) to that of pure diamond (approximately 1000 W / m-K) )) Is a substance that also contains carbon. Furthermore, some forms of DLC may even have semiconductor properties. The DLC material typically contains carbon that is at least partially organized into a diamond-like structure, and may contain significant amounts of sp ³ hybridized carbon atoms. DLC materials can also be flexible and amorphous, unlike pure diamond. In some of the forms of DLC, the DLC material may include actual synthetic diamond material. For the purposes of this disclosure, a DLC composition that also has good to excellent heat transfer performance while providing high electrical insulating capability is preferred. Among other materials, such as diamond-like materials or specific polymers or ceramics that may include actual diamond materials, other materials having similar properties (such as diamond composites and diamond powders) are described below. Can be a substitute for other DLC materials.

  In FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of an exemplary particle injector that is a water cooled high density plasma flux (DPF) proton injector is shown. This figure is shown as if viewed from the bore of a DDWA accelerator tube, such as a compression railgun-like device. The housing and peripheral components of the device are not shown. DPFs can be used with the exemplary DDWA and have a stacked capacitor array built from robust parallel electrodes (forming individual capacitors). The DPF of FIG. 1 includes a central water-cooled particle injector electrode 1 and a smaller water-cooled outer electrode 2. These electrodes themselves have a diameter large enough to support a uniform internal cooling fluid circulation using the water channel 3. One of the water passages 3 can be an inlet and the other is used as an outlet. A water splitter 4 is provided between the inflow and outflow channels to split the water flow.

  Each electrode 1 and electrode 2 may be made of all metal, semiconductor, or a conductive ceramic composite material such as boron (which is conductive at high temperatures) or silicon carbide, or other suitable conductive material. . A central bore 5 is also provided in line with the electrode directly in front of the electrode in a robust vacuum-tight insulated window to separate the DDWA and the injector assembly. This window is a thin plate of so-called low atomic number material (nuclei with less than 20 protons and neutrons) and is actively cooled (eg, water cooled). Note that the vacuum manifold described above, which is suitable for generating nuclei of particles or atoms and conducting them to the aperture of a particle accelerator (for a DDWA, it will be outside the window) Mounting the electrode array would be possible by separating the DDWA and the injector assembly. As shown, several electrodes are arranged in an array forming a coaxial cylindrical pattern. Furthermore, these electrodes have one central cathode electrode 1 which has a larger diameter and is designed to have a central hollow tube, the inner annular water-cooled flow path extending to the wall of the central hollow tube. They are arranged in a pattern of being designed and built. The device is also provided with an arbitrary number of secondary anode electrodes 2 surrounding the central electrode jacket in a concentric pattern. In this concentric pattern, smaller peripheral electrodes 2 are arranged in a cylindrical array around a larger central electrode 1.

  Each secondary peripheral anode electrode 2 is connected to a high voltage, high energy capacitor bank (not shown) and includes a discrete pulse forming network. Here, the central cathode electrode 1 is used to support high average and peak discharges with very high voltages in a very short time range. At a given time, if all anode electrodes 2 are activated at the same time, a very high current arc will be created in a low pressure gas (such as a gas containing borohydride) in a region very close to the surface of each electrode. Is done. The arc propagates from a virtual ground plane (located at the base of the electrode support structure) to the tip of the hollow or annular central cathode electrode 1. This is a very fast event and the net result is that the arc propagates to the connecting electrode material, including the inner and outer surfaces of the central cathode electrode 1, at which point the arc reaches beyond the contact surface. And merge at the center of the bore. At this point, a beam of electrons or protons is emitted from this area where the plasma was generated. The annular active cooling region of each electrode allows for high repetition rates, thereby increasing beam current.

  In this exemplary case, the innermost tube has an inner jacket sealed to the outer jacket at the end furthest from the mounting plate, so that the water flows through the two annular jackets (channels) of the inner electrode tube. 3) It is possible to flow between. Such a water stream is intended to cool the electrodes in a region where all electrons are deprived of the evaporated material where the plasma is intended to be generated and accelerated. This bore is also the point where ions of a gas (often hydrogen, deuterium or nitrogen are used) or any substance, which is more ionized in this environment, are introduced, in the case of hydrogen Provide the protons themselves, which are accelerated and then injected through the window into the DDWA bore. This window is provided to provide a high vacuum in the bore of the accelerator tube of the DDWA and a hydrogen gas partial pressure (for example) of 12 Torr ± 10 Torr in the plasma focus injector (DPF).

  If a DPF particle injector is used for the fusion reaction between hydrogen and boron, the inner tube will be provided as one monolithic tube without active fluid cooling. On the other hand, the inner tube may be conductively cooled and made of boron. An alternative approach is to use an all-metal DPF with low pressure boron hydroxide gas according to prior art patents.

  A DDWA architecture using a DPF or other type of particle injector can be used to accelerate protons or electrons. Such a design allows for the generation of relativistic velocities, in the case of electrons, directing electrons to a high density, high atomic number target (greater than 90 nucleons), and high energy gamma rays having useful efficiencies (eg, 30%, which is not an unusual figure). In this exemplary configuration, the DPF operates in a somewhat different manner. Particles ejected from the plasma region where the separate arcs merge emit protons in one direction away from the ground plane of the DPF in the axial direction, and emit electrons in the 180 ° opposite polarity direction. Thus, when operated in this configuration for a DDWA input aperture, an apparatus is provided that uses a beam of electrons rather than protons.

  It is one reason that the disclosed design is provided with an annular double-walled (allowing internal refrigerant flow) central tube having an aperture extending the entire length of the central tube. Thus, the aperture of the central tube allows for the utilization of particles (eg, electrons) by equipping the DDPF with the DDPF, if desired, so that the particles (protons, electrons, beta particles, etc.) enter the DDWA. This accelerator configuration allows particles, such as electrons, to be accelerated to relativistic velocities in extremely short devices as desired. Such acceleration would be useful in generating gamma rays from atomic species with more than 90 nuclear particles in the nucleus at the emitter target.

  The diamond dielectric wall accelerator (DDWA) of the exemplary embodiment described below may be provided to operate at, for example, 125 kV or more per capacitor accelerator element. At the 125 kV level, the accelerator head required to achieve 45 MeV electrons expected to produce 16 MeV gamma rays would be on the order of 36 cm long. This would be comparable to 2 MeV per meter in a conventionally designed quad radio frequency accelerator.

  In this exemplary application, each discharge of the DPF creates a high current (on a monolithic solid tube electrode) that is reflected on the inner surface. These currents ionize the hydrogen gas and accelerate it to the edge of the center electrode. In this position, each discharge path forms a tornado-like plasma discharge at the very end of the tube. At the end of the tube, the ionized and accelerated protons can be trapped in a single vortex apex region in the central bore of the boron tube. At exactly this point, the combined plasma discharge is concentrated and a portion of the boron operating at high temperature is deprived of electrons at the very center of the edge of the central electrode (in this case, made of boron). Hydrogen ions (ie, protons) that have been encountered and can be affected by the combined plasma vortices. In this position, the magnetic forces from the individual vortices also concentrate the plasma, creating a situation for a fusion reaction to take place. The resulting helium and unreacted protons can be incident matter for subsequent acceleration in DDWA. The advantage of this approach is that the particles are accelerated from the plasma injector at an energy or velocity of several hundred keV. This reduces the required accelerating tube length in the DDWA to achieve a specific purpose.

  Any atomic plasma or gas ions can be accelerated in this way. The electrode material will not necessarily be boron for non-fusion based reactions. In that case, the plasma focus device is simply a compact ion accelerator / injector.

  The architecture of the area of the dielectric wall accelerator (DWA) that receives the DPF particles consists of a hollow cylinder that forms the vacuum containment area of the particle accelerator. The design length selected for this exemplary tube is about 1 meter or more. The tube is constructed as an insulated large (4 cm in this case) bore tube composed of adjacent parallel rings of metal film embedded and mounted in a sufficiently thick wall of the tube and insulated from each other. Is done. These metal film rings form a capacitor network that has the effect of averaging the voltage gradients of sequentially operated capacitors stacked on the outer wall of the accelerator tube. This effect is due to the reflected charge induced and applied on each ring representing individual capacitor elements in the bore tube wall.

  The current propagating along the electrode surface of each of the discharge capacitor elements forming the pulse forming network (PFN) is, in effect, a highly controlled, temporally sequential event (discussed below). ) Provides an accelerating electromotive force acting on any charged particles in the bore of the accelerator tube and applies an accelerating force with a very high specific energy density to the particles in the tube.

  For example, gallium arsenide or silicon carbide optical switches used in conventional applications are used as active components to support a controlled and very short duration of conduction at high voltages, whereby individual optical Switching at high voltage and high current upon irradiation with laser pulses of several nanoseconds delivered through the fiber may be possible, but such devices are typically at high current / low voltage or high voltage / low current. Works. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,033, which is hereby incorporated by reference, and in US Pat. S. Sullivan, "Wide Bandcap Extrinsic Photoswitches, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Jan 20, 2012 (hereinafter" Reference A "). Single crystal diamond or DLC optical switches (ie, replacing gallium arsenide or silicon carbide with diamond material) overcome these aforementioned limitations. Notably, the prior art materials have a breakdown voltage of 3 million to 30.5 million volts per meter, while single crystal diamond and 70% tetrahedral DLC diamond have 100% per meter. Has a breakdown voltage of 100 million volts. This allows a practical single crystal diamond optical switch to have a breakdown voltage of 10 million volts for a 1 mm device. Obviously, the breakdown voltage of the cooling medium present in or operated in such a device can be a major operating factor. The breakdown voltage for heavily deionized water is 400 kV / cm. This suggests using an optical switch placement architecture that maximizes the material properties of DDWA.

  The architecture of the arrangement of the capacitor elements or layers is such that there is a space between each capacitor disk, which is a layer of individually spaced ribs on one surface of the disk. This allows a forced flow of refrigerant in the deionized water along the axis of the tube and capacitor array, but this forced flow, due to the presence of the ribs described above, causes the PFN capacitor disk element Exits transversely to the axis of the tube, through the space formed between them. Water is pumped into the individual capacitor sections into the apical spaces of the polygonal (eg, hexagonal) holes that make up the inner aperture and the cumulative water manifold. A series of individual capacitors are stacked next to each other, thereby forming a capacitor array, the axial sum of the capacitors providing energy storage and providing a fast-acting discharge circuit of the PFN that is operated sequentially. A single capacitor element may consist of two parallel plate transmission lines (electrodes) stacked against one another, with one or more optical switches mounted between the two conductors.

  FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the dielectric wall accelerator region of an exemplary capacitor element 50 for an exemplary DDWA. The DDWA is formed by stacking a plurality of such regions 50 (ie, by stacking a plurality of capacitor elements). The DDWA includes a central particle vacuum tube conduit 7 that extends through all of the stacked elements 50. Element 50 includes a first diamond-coated capacitor plate 8 (one first diamond-coated capacitor plate 8 is provided for each capacitor acceleration element, and the resulting high-voltage pulse-forming network (PFN) is formed. ) Is formed). The second diamond coated capacitor plate 9 (one for each capacitor element) provides a ground reference for the pulse forming network (PFN) element 50. A hexagonal aperture 10 is provided for the capacitor element. The aperture 10 forms a central coolant flow path. Three single crystal diamond plate optical switches 12 are provided in the polygonal PFN accelerator capacitor element in axial order. A single crystal diamond optical switch 13 is provided for the following sequence of polygonal PFN accelerator capacitor elements: The diamond coating on the capacitor plate (electrode) can consist of diamond crystals or diamond-like carbon (DLC), which can be deposited, for example, using a deposition process. Additionally, a Teflon coating or other coating may be provided on the diamond or DLC layer for waterproofing of the layer. Note: In some embodiments, for example, as disclosed in reference A, the capacitor element may share an electrode with an adjacent capacitor, thereby reducing the number of capacitor elements. Is not a preferred construction architecture.

  An exemplary DDWA device is provided as a hexagonal polygon as a configuration of the outer shape of the design (in this case, a hexagon). Indeed, polygons having a suitable number of edges for mounting the optical switch can be provided. However, each capacitor will typically have more than two optical switches 12 on each layer to provide a uniform simultaneous current discharge across the surface of the diamond-coated insulated capacitor element 50. The adjacent layer will have its own optical switch 13 mounted so that the optical switch of the adjacent layer fits between the vertices of the adjacent layer. This will allow the optical switch to operate without interference, especially from the arc due to the destruction of the deionized water used as insulator and refrigerant. In this manner, each capacitor element will discharge evenly over the periphery, thereby allowing a substantially uniform current discharge of each individual layer. The optical switch (s) 12 and 13 and the thickness and arrangement of the capacitor layer 8 will be adapted to enable these designed operations. Taking into account the breakdown voltage of the deionized water, the minimum spacing of the optical switch electrodes at 125 kV potential (exemplified in this device) is a safe design parameter at 1 cm for a safety factor of 3 times the design factor at 125 kV. If so, they must be separated by at least 4 mm.

  Each individual optical switch can be accessed and activated by an individual fiber optic coupler mounted on the outer edge. This is under controlled timing so that the single crystal synthetic diamond can be a high speed, high current conductor, thereby shorting the capacitor and producing a high current discharge that forms an actuation event for the particle accelerator. Supports q-switched laser pulses of sufficient intensity (eg, 10-15 millijoules each).

  FIG. 3 shows an exemplary cooling water jacket 20 covering the end of the vacuum cylinder. The jacket 20 includes a water input / output port 21, a water seal 22 for the central vacuum tube conduit, and a water seal 23 for the accelerator polygon capacitor element.

  FIG. 4 shows a central particle vacuum tube conduit 7, a water cooling jacket 20, an in / out cooling port 21, a ground reference PFN capacitor plate contact 25 to an adjacent capacitor layer, and a high voltage PFN capacitor contact to the capacitor layer 8. FIG. 4 shows a schematic end view of an exemplary DDWA end capacitor 100 showing element 26; FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view of the cooling water jacket above the end capacitor of the central dielectric wall vacuum tube showing a number of identical components. FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram showing the DDWA device in phantom, with the end capacitor 100 of FIG. 5A in a water-cooled containment vessel 110 to form a DDWA device. Although only a single capacitor element (end element) is shown in this FIG. 5B, in practical devices, multiple capacitor elements 50 (shown in FIG. 2) may also be used to form a stack of capacitor elements. Stacked on a tube conduit (core) 7. The particle source generator may or may not be included within containment 110.

  Some of the new features in this DDWA technology (each such feature constitutes an optional feature of the disclosed design example) include the following items.

  1) Diamond-like carbon (DLC) (or diamond) provided on the entire surface of the capacitor electrode element except for the charging electrode tabs or conductors shown as strips extending from a large portion of the disk, represented as a design of the capacitor element Use of. There are also specific exceptions to this DLC film (where the actual optical switch contacts are provided to be mounted on the electrode conductors). DLC films include, for example, lasers (eg, the slab laser disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13 / 566,144, filed August 3, 2012. U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13 / 566,144). The numbers can be deposited using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using the method of (PhD), incorporated herein by reference.

Secondary PLD formed film of 2) for example hexagonal barium titanate (h-BaTiO ₃₎ ceramic dielectric may also be used in the area between the electrodes. While DLC is a preferred dielectric in supporting DDWA operation, it is the designer's choice to include a high saturation voltage dielectric such as barium titanate or titanium dioxide.

  3) A rib structure (possibly made by PLD) on the surface (s) of each disk capacitor element, whose purpose is to create a cooling plenum for deionized water in this case.

  4) In a DLC layer that includes and encapsulates high voltage, high current optical switching elements placed and spaced around individual capacitor elements, for example, to form or support a uniform current during discharge. A synthetic single crystal, optionally doped with nitrogen, or diamond diamond, which is also sealed. On the other hand, the aforementioned DLC layer does not need to cover the surface or the light pulse input facet in some cases, but rather exposes the exposed conductive metallization to allow for mechanical bonding of the electrodes and electrical paths. Cover only layers.

  5) Polygonal shapes (hexagons in the case shown in the figures) in the individual capacitor elements that support the flow of water, sulfur hexafluoride or oil insulators at alternating vertices which can be forced to be in opposite or opposite directions ) Central aperture or hole. This feature allows cooling from the opposite direction. This doubles the effective length of the cooling area of the accelerator bore tube. This feature can be important as the proposed refrigerant will be heated up as it is forced over the length of the outer wall of the tube. Unless mitigated, in high average power operation, there will be a point in time when the water starts to boil and the oil is carbonized. This simple feature increases the power that can be loaded on the length of the device at any given refrigerant flow level, or, with this design, allows non-pressurized operation of the refrigerant enclosure structure. In some applications, this can significantly increase the beam current throughout the device.

  6) Deionized water or coolant that is pumped along the outer wall along the axis of the vacuum tube through the entire device and then pumped out through the space between the capacitor elements. Highly deionized water has a breakdown voltage of 400 kV per cm when deionized to 18 megaohms per centimeter. This allows for device cooling and a compact architecture. The cooling level allows for a kilohertz repetition rate and thus supports a high average output beam current. The use of water also allows the well-established and mature technology of water deionization resistance measurement devices to be used as a feedback system control element by a controlling computer.

  7) Diamond-like carbon (DLC) or diamond is used as a dielectric insulator on the matrix forming the plates and electrodes of the capacitor, and the dielectric wall accelerator tube itself. The breakdown voltage of a DLC without pinholes is about 10 kV per micron. In the proposed design, a 0.001 inch thick multi-layer DLC / graphite architecture assists stress-free fabrication and allows small mechanical vibration waves generated from discharge pulses to be absorbed. Used for

  8) Single crystal synthetic diamond is used as an optical switch slab mounted at several locations around the perimeter of each capacitor element. The single crystal synthetic diamond slab is further made with an overall internal reflector on all edges except the input window. This feature supports uniform light illumination within the optical switch slab and reduces the input energy required to operate the switch.

  9) DLC is primarily provided by high-speed pulsed laser deposition (PLD) disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13 / 566,144, filed August 3, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference. Applied. However, there are other methods for making single crystal diamond or amorphous polycrystalline diamond-like carbon that are slow but techniques that can be used to make the films described above.

  10) Each individual capacitor element is constructed such that an optional dielectric, such as hexagonal barium titanate, is deposited at a controlled thickness via the PLD to adjust the energy storage of each capacitor element. You. This layer is made on the outside of the DLC layer. This layer itself is sealed with a DLC layer that seals the DLC to the matched expanded graphene, iron-nickel, or molybdenum alloy that forms the electrodes of the capacitor.

  11) The architecture of the design of each capacitor element is such that the thickness of each optical switch is located on the apex mounting pad on the capacitor disk, which is polygonal, so that the adjacent capacitor disk and its own optical The placement of the switch element does not interfere with the operation of the next adjacent capacitor element.

  12) The aforementioned capacitor layer is polygonal, unlike the previously designed Blumlein strip configuration (see US Pat. No. 2,465,840 and Reference A, which is incorporated herein by reference). . This is aided by the fact that the optical switches are evenly arranged around the periphery of the capacitor element.

  13) The timing control circuit that activates the charged PFN array is amplified to a sufficient intensity and energy content via a master oscillator pulse amplifier (MOPA), US Pat. It can be controlled by a single synchronized q-switched laser pulse utilizing the 220,965 IFM. This, in turn, impinges the light pulse on a sequential optical pick off fiber launch manifold (including a partial reflector that transfers a portion of the light pulse to the fiber optic line). In turn, the length of each individual fiber optic line will allow precise control of the timing and order of light pulses arriving at each individual optical switch.

  14) Subsequent timing adjustments can be adjusted via computer commands to the linear actuators holding the individual fiber launch focus head sections with variable distance path lengths or variable thickness high index material delay lines (eg, SF) -11 glass) on each fiber launch line can be further assisted. This feature is due to the fact that the timing of higher atomic number particles or heavier atoms can be adjusted by the space between the fiber optic collimators controlled by the computer under the control of the computer command, so that the same DDWA device is used. Assists in accelerating different atomic species. This method allows for a change in timing, resulting in a controlled delay that is sufficient to adapt slower particles or atomic species to be accelerated. By this means, the timing delays required to adapt different isotope species within the same architecture to be accelerated will be supported.

  System design examples: These cases fall into several design architectures. The average beam current from the DDWA is based on the size of the contact surface area of the single crystal synthetic diamond optical switch, and thus the cooling surface area, in conjunction with the size of the dielectric on the disk for each element at the designer's choice. Regarding the choices that one wishes to achieve.

  An exemplary base DDWA design may use a 1 cm x 1.5 cm switch element located at three locations around the DDWA accelerator capacitor element. This choice allows operating speeds of hundreds to thousands of pulses per second. The heat generated in the optical switch and the ability of the refrigerant to remove that heat are limiting factors for power input. In conjunction with the choice of dielectric material, the diameter of the capacitor, and thus the surface area, will determine the energy storage per accelerator element. As a result of this combination of choices, with the accelerating voltage increasing by 125 kV per length (mm) of the accelerator device or stacked capacitor elements, the average beam current will be 12 mA. These elements are stacked next to each other on the dielectric wall beam tube-device length. The above-described architecture with about 45 MeV at 0.012 amps would produce about 1/2 MW of beam power. If the electron beam is directed at a thorium oxide or depleted uranium oxide ceramic target, about 30% of the electron beam will be converted to 10-17 MeV gamma rays.

  Gamma ray emitter design

FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of the DDWA gamma ray emitter device described herein used as a source for emitting gamma rays. This configuration includes a particle injector 31 (such as the improved high density plasma fusion device (DPF) described in connection with FIG. 1), a diamond dielectric wall accelerator assembly (DDWA) 32, A reflectron 33, a gamma window 34 (e.g., a grown tube window or fired ceramic tube defined by an alumina ceramic-sapphire edge), and a gamma emitter cone 35 (e.g., a high temperature Atomic mass material), a heat exchanger submount 36 (eg, a silicon carbide cooling plenum made reactively), and a vacuum containment cylinder 38 that provides utility structure support. Water flow path 37, the refrigerant for cooling the device can be provided so as to circulate (water, CO _2, air or some other coolant,) a.

At the proposed power input, the back of the (exemplary) thorium oxide cone was hollowed out to allow cooling of the target with SCO ₂ or deionized water to handle the generated emitter waste heat. Has been This gamma radiation flux causes fission of nearby radioisotopes from thorium and / or uranium into the above-mentioned nuclides in the reactor chamber, and about 20-25 of the electrical energy recovered from the completed reactor system. Will produce doubles.

  The electron beam and / or, if selected, the proton beam will travel in a vacuum or near vacuum. Due to the thermal energy applied to the emission target in the form of particles, in practical equipment the emission material will tend to evaporate and coat everything in the chamber. Thorium oxide is the material that is least likely to cause such a phenomenon, but the sputtering effect will occur at a different rate for all materials being processed.

  The components for preventing such phenomena from occurring on the DDWA and the inner beam tube surface include a reflectron 33 that applies a repulsive negative voltage from the emission target to any reflected ions in the chamber. And / or high voltage ring electrodes.

  Reflectrons are usually electrostatic particle mirrors used in time-of-flight mass spectrometers. In the case of relativistic particles, the reflectron is a one-way check valve. Reflectrons are constructed from a stack of thin conductive polygonal metal plates (often made of brass) with mounting holes drilled near the corners or vertices of the polygon. A larger aperture occupying the majority (approximately 70%) of the plate diameters described above is present in the central portion of each plate. The plates are subsequently mounted at a short distance (typically 5-6 mm) from each other using an insulated screw bushing. Thereafter, resistors having substantially the same resistance value are attached to each layer in the vicinity. This is because when a high negative voltage (negative for electrons, positive for protons and alpha particles) is applied to one end and the other end is grounded, a uniform A voltage gradient will be created along its length. For some embodiments:

  The reflectron is mounted between the DDWA output aperture and the reactor chamber inlet aperture as part of the DPF-DDWA-reflectron particle emitter design. Thus, the reflectron is adjacent to the reactor chamber. The reflectron is sealed in an aperture tube or vacuum chamber for architectural reasons, but is attached to the arm.

  The base architecture is that one DPF-DDWA-reflectron arm is attached to the vacuum reactor chamber. Thereby, the accelerated electron beam is directed toward the gamma-ray emitter target.

  The emitter target may have multiple beam arms directed around the target on the wall (s) of the reactor chamber. Here, the design is to convert radioactive materials into low-radiation, ultimately non-radioactive materials by generating gamma rays with sufficient energy and irradiating the materials in the reactor chamber. It is assumed that the person wishes.

  The particle beam will produce gamma rays (eg, MeV levels) of sufficient intensity to photo-fission any particular nuclide, depending on the operating voltage of the selected parameter. This, in turn, promises to produce over unity heat that produces a conversion of heat to electrical power at high temperatures. Thus, the emitter target and conversion candidate will determine the power ratio at which the core and surrounding radioactive material are to be operated and converted on the heat exchange system (eg, the input heat exchanger). The exception to this assumption would be the final stage of difficult target nuclides where designers or users would like to convert to stable non-radioactive isotopes as the final daughter product.

  Thus, the exemplary system described above provides specific tuning to create a specific tailored gamma ray and beam current of MeV levels that can be used to convert any element and its isotopes by photofission. It is constructed to allow for an energy level of the tailored particle beam. This is a description of the architecture that allows for multiple variations of the selection based on the designer's menu. In practice, this architecture can support almost any level of power generation.

Reactor applications The concept of the DPF-DDWA-reflectron emitter enables the commercialization of photofission reactors, thereby providing a very high density and compact power plant of the order of a commercial refrigerator. It will be.

  It is a member of the Nobel laureates Carlo Robbia and J.R. A. It is a supplementary process for a neutron spallation driven subcritical reactor described by Rubio. However, the prior art concept works at smaller sizes up to a 6 ton fuel load, compared to the 27 ton load in Dr. Rubbia's paper on energy amplifiers. A device of such size would fit within a standard 10 meter shipping container sized module as an assemblable subsection. The target system design will fit within 20 cubic meters or 65 cubic feet. The beam energy in the Rubia energy amplifier was one billion electron volts and the current was 12.5 milliamps. In contrast, the DDWA described in this disclosure is capable of producing the same beam in a package that is 1 / 7,000 the size of the device, and can be constructed at a similarly low cost.

The concept of proton to neutron spallation has been proposed for use as a central subcritical nuclear power system. Exemplary design, to produce a 600 electric megawatts (to generate 750 megawatts utilizing SCO2 Rankine cycle engine incorporated above) 1.5 Thermal gigawatts, 170 electrical megawatt systems (also or SCO ₂ Rankine 340 thermal megawatts (using a cycle engine).

  An exemplary accelerator complex may produce a billion electron volts or 1 BeV proton beam. The proton beam is directed through a vacuum beam tube and traverses a 20 meter liquid lead coolant. The proton beam is terminated with a 3 mm thick dome shaped tungsten window. It is configured such that 1 BeV protons travel 30 cm through liquid lead above the fuel core, which is a toroidal cylinder with apertures that allow neutron spallation and excess energy and liquid refrigerant flow. You. While this is taking place, the level will drop from 1 MeV neutrons generated to 25 KeV neutrons towards the bottom of the core 1.5 meters below. At 1 BeV energy level, protons will produce approximately 30-1 MeV neutrons per proton at 30 cm of lead. In this concept, the accelerator complex may be composed of ten accelerators, each approximately 70 meters long (each accelerator is approximately the size of a seven-car train).

By comparison, the DDWA case described above, which produces the same energy proton beam, is about 10 meters long and 30 cm in diameter. This indicates, for example, that the volume has been reduced to about 1/7000. It is possible to operate on the order of kilowatts at low power ^levels, operate on the basis of ^{I 129, Sr 90, Cs 137} , and ^{Tc 99} reactor waste having resistance to neutron physiologically difficulties such as A design of photon fission from electron to gamma radiation by DDWA can be provided. Such a device can utilize a completely closed nuclear fuel power cycle, so that there are no residual radioactive products or waste. Isotopes, such as laser devices, have the potential to retain liquid-based solvents and to transport any residual trace amounts of radioactive species to the environment; May be provided. This is compared to the proposed pyroprocessing for current aqueous PUREX reprocessing or utilizing a molten salt and showing a 99% improvement in capture. The average beam current desired from DDWA for such applications is related to the choice that the designer wishes to achieve, based on the size of the contact surface area of the single crystal synthetic diamond optical switch.

  The exemplary emitter design uses a 1 cm x 1.5 cm switch element located at three locations around the DDWA accelerator capacitor element. This choice allows operating speeds of hundreds to thousands of pulses per second. The heat generated in the optical switch, and the ability of the coolant to remove that heat, is the limiting factor for power input. As a result of this combination of choices, with the accelerating voltage increasing 125 kV for 1 mm of the capacitor element, the average beam current will be 12 mA. These elements are stacked next to each other on the length of the dielectric wall beam tube device. The above-described architecture with about 45 MeV at 0.012 amps would produce about 1/2 MW of beam power. If the electron beam is directed at a thorium oxide or depleted uranium oxide ceramic target, about 30% of the electron beam will be converted to 10-17 MeV gamma rays.

At this power input, the backside of the thorium oxide cone, for example, is hollowed out to allow cooling of the target by SCO ₂ to handle the generated emitter waste heat. This gamma ray flux fission nearby radioisotopes in the reactor chamber from thorium and / or uranium to the aforementioned nuclides, producing approximately 20-25 times more recovered electrical energy than conventional approaches. Will. In such a system, the inner wall, whether an oxide, a metal pellet or rod, or a pebble, is lined with a conversion candidate produced in the most stable form. The inner surface of the reactor chamber is a reacted silicon carbide panel shaped to form the inner surface and to secure the fuel in whatever form the fuel is made Made from.

  The electron beam and / or, if selected, the proton beam will travel in a vacuum or near vacuum (or in an inert atmosphere). Due to the thermal energy applied to the emission target in the form of particles, in practical equipment the emission material will tend to evaporate and coat everything in the chamber. Thorium oxide is the material that is least likely to cause such a phenomenon, but the sputtering effect will occur at a different rate for all materials being processed.

  Components that can be used to avoid such phenomena occurring for the DDWA and the inner beam tube surface are, as described above, a repulsive negative voltage for any reflected ions in the chamber. Reflectron and / or high voltage ring electrode applied from the emission target.

  A key feature is that the DDWA-reflectron beam arm is used at one or more locations around the compact conversion chamber. Each arm will add the ability to convert and generate power from these radioactive materials at a specific determined rate selected by the designer.

For example, if the designer wishes to convert the ^{I 129,} Sr ^{90, Cs 137} or ^{Tc 99,,} gamma per second 10~17MeV would increase 180 times the rate of disintegration. This means in particular that some of these substances having a half-life of 30 years are reduced to 60.8 days. As a result, potential decay energy is released at a rate 180 times faster, and in this system, this thermal energy can be used for power generation.

  FIG. 7 shows a DDWA emitter used as a source for emitting an energy beam mounted on a single emitter target reactor chamber (further examples are described below), and near the fuel panel FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of a DDWA emitter device for nuclear power generation with a heat input exchanger according to claim 1. The apparatus includes the DPF-DDWA-reflectron emitter assembly 30 described above, having a nuclear fuel target 41, which is a target for the generated gamma rays, and a heat exchanger 42. The fuel target includes a radioactive nuclear fuel (described elsewhere in this disclosure) that performs a fission reaction to generate heat.

  FIG. 8 shows an alternative arrangement using a pair of DDWAs arranged in series as emitters to work with a pair of fuel targets 41 and a heat exchanger 42 for increased power output. Is shown. In addition, a cooling device 44 with a cooling channel 43 can be used to cool the emitter device, so that the reactor can operate at higher power.

  FIG. 9 has a hexagonal arrangement that can be used as a reactor fuel assembly that includes a plurality of fuel targets 41 and a heat exchanger 42 with a DDWA emitter 30 (or the series of emitters shown in FIG. 8). FIG. 3 shows an end view of a further alternative reactor system. Each of the fuel target 41 and the heat exchanger 42 is provided as a “wall” having a hexagonal structure. This device further improves the efficiency in power generation.

  FIG. 10 illustrates another alternative design, in which an assembly 50 includes a single fuel target assembly 141 and a plurality of DDWA emitters 30 provided in a hexagonal arrangement within a heat exchanger 142. An end view is shown. A central support structure 46 may be provided to support DDWA 30 and additional structures as desired.

  FIG. 11 illustrates a support structure 56, an input heat exchanger 58 and an output heat exchanger 59 for managing heat flow, and other supplies of protons, which may include a central proton accelerator (or DDWA-derived particle accelerator). A central proton beam tube 60 for receiving protons from a source) and a liquid lead or lead-bismuth refrigerant flow 62 for cooling the reactor and converting the received protons to neutrons to support the reaction. An exemplary neutron spallation incinerator comprising a fuel rod assembly 63, which may include a fuel such as thorium for performing fission, which may be a subcritical reaction, a containment vessel body 65, and a containment degree dome 66. Show.

  FIG. 12 shows a heavy water refrigerant flow path 72, a plurality of DPF-DDWA-reflectron emitter assemblies 30, a support structure 56, an input heat exchanger 58, an output heat exchanger 59, and a central proton beam tube. Utilizing a DDWA emitter to form a gamma-ray photonuclear fission reactor 75, including a fuel rod assembly ring 63 containing a desired radioactive fuel, a containment body 65, and a containment dome. 12 shows a modified example of the neutron crushing incinerator in FIG. 11.

  Such a nuclear reactor as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 may be used to generate heat for various purposes (eg, to reduce the emission of radioactive nuclear fuel while simultaneously generating electricity). Thus, such reactors can be used as a means of generating power and at the same time disposing of radioactive waste or other radioactive material. Alternatively, the system can be used to provide a means to generate power using radioactive materials operating at subcritical levels. This provides safer nuclear power capability compared to conventional designs operating at critical levels.

  FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary system 200 for power generation that may utilize, for example, the reactor 75 of FIG. This system is used to drive a turbine 220 to drive a generator 230 to generate electricity that can be used to supply energy to, for example, a power grid, factory, or other consumer of power. It has a reactor 201 connected to a heat transfer subsystem 210, which may include pumps, heat exchangers, and fluid piping (known in the art) to transfer the heat generated by 201.

  System 200 may be connected to a source 240 of nuclear particles (eg, protons) for use in nuclear reactions, if desired, if a neutron spallation reaction is utilized. A conventional proton accelerator may be utilized, or a DDWA device may be used as a source of nuclear particles. The reactor 201 using the DDWA gamma emitter described herein is connected to a control system 250 for controlling gamma emission to at least partially control the rate of nuclear reactions occurring within the reactor. Can be done. Such a reaction may be subcritical, critical, or supercritical, or a combination thereof (eg, a curved surface where the fuel is depleted). For some reactor designs operating above the critical point, the particle source 240 may not be necessary, while nuclear reactions may be subcritical as described above with respect to the reactor 55 of FIG. If so, such a source may be required.

  For example, the nuclear reactor disclosed herein provides for utilizing gamma and / or neutron spallation as a single or dual source, especially in core designs cooled by liquid lead, heavy water, or carbon dioxide. I can do it. In this core design, the existing fuel rod assembly design impaired in U-335, while being converted, is also present in the removed assembly commonly used in pressurized water reactors.

  These design concepts include a typical vertical design configuration, which typically has 24 fuel rod assemblies (other numbers of fuel rods may be utilized), and only one fuel rod assembly in a containment or suitable material. Can be used in configurations. In any configuration, a vacuum beam tube may be utilized and mounted at the central aperture of the array, as in the case described in a neutron spallation reaction similar to the Rubia energy amplifier, or in the vicinity of the fuel rod assembly. May be provided. The beam tube is located in the center of the array bundle and can be translated axially in place so that high density fast or slow spallation neutrons are generated and delivered along the length of the array bundle. This allows for uniform irradiation with a neutron irradiation field from lead at the end of the beam tube, usually in the center of the array. If the system design is cooled by heavy water or carbon dioxide, the crushing target (usually, but not necessarily, lead) is at the end of the beam tube and, in use, at the end. Pebble beds or other fuel designs may also be utilized if desired.

  With respect to the photonuclear fission reactor version, the gamma ray generating portion described above further includes a plurality of DDWA gamma ray generators provided around the outside of the array to provide gamma ray impact on nuclear fuel to trigger and control the fission reaction ( Discharger). These generators can also be translated along the vertical axis of the fuel rod bundle assembly, thereby providing a photofission function that can be controlled by controlling the gamma output of the emitter.

  A similar design to a pressurized water reactor can be utilized, in that a steel pressure vessel is used. On the other hand, in such a design, a window similar to that of a submarine-type system (ie, a port to which the emitter portion of the gamma emitter is attached) is mounted in the container chamber. This lower design for the internally mounted emitter area may include a sapphire or quartz tube area that may be a radial aperture for gamma rays generated in transuranium emitter oxide ceramics molded into a long aspect ratio core. In each case, these tubes are transparent to the generated gamma rays.

  The feature of using an internal DDWA emitter in a nuclear reactor is designed to allow photofission of the fuel rod assemblies at various axial locations of the pressure vessel containing the fuel rod assemblies. On the other hand, in an exemplary design, gamma and neutron reflector materials are incorporated as a liner on the inside surface of the pressure vessel wall. Designers familiar with the art of such pressure vessels used in pressurized water reactors will understand that it may be advantageous for such liners to be separated from the refrigerant and will incorporate such design considerations.

  The fact that the fuel rod assemblies can be depleted in uranium 235 and are thus subcritical in nature increases the safety of this system. This means that power generation is stopped when the neutron and gamma ray beams are cut off. A similar thermal spike can occur after shutoff when neptunium 227 reaches peak power, but the materials and such systems are constructed to withstand this.

The single accelerator section consists of approximately 1 cubic foot of thorium oxide pierced by a 1 mm window of beryllium or SiC and circulated by a high speed CO ₂ gas carrier driven by a SiC fan or turbine rotated on a shaft. It may be provided to produce a beam having sufficient energy to penetrate and photofission the fuel in the circulating powder core. The gas / particle flow results in a toroidal flow pattern with a core drum diameter of about 70 cm (radiation surface is 3800 cm ² per unit length (cm)) and a length of 150 cm can be effective, Will be about 1 meter. The average target density of the circulating powder will be about 1 gram / cc. This is approximately 10% of the thorium oxide density of 10.2 grams / cc. When the powder is dry to prevent agglomeration, the ceramic itself is good at 3,384 ° C. Using a dual circulation system using one turbine to lift particles from the bottom and another to create vortices will preferentially result in the highest particle density at the top of the vortex. Would.

  The core may be based on an EA architecture operating with a circulating powder medium, with a target average density of about 1 g / cc. Capture the kinetic energy of particles as they move through the core, allowing for the particles to move several inches before colliding with other thorium oxide particles or cooling / pickup coils in the core (eg, made of molybdenum) To this end, the core may be surrounded by a coil pickup system.

  The magnetic part can capture approximately the same amount of energy as the heat recovery system, with the highest efficiency being ~ 65%. This feature is due to having the outer surface as a backup and overdriving the battery to generate 10-20 MW, so that the heat recovery part operates at the internal coil uptake rate (eg, about 6.6 MW / 100 cm) Will be able to This will provide an on-demand generator for the desired application.

CO ₂ is the internal drum becomes atmospheric pressure, it can be adjusted passively by using a ceramic filter element to be supplied to the ballast CO ₂ reservoir. For example, six DDWAs are hexagonally mounted on top of the core, with a PMA motor mounted in the center of the DDWA array so that if the DDWA array fails, the DDWA array can be lifted vertically out. Providing in a pattern is an exemplary approach. The beam may be squeezed to provide core length proton penetration if desired.

Such an approach may allow long-term operation, such as 5 years at 16-32 MW, and cooling the coil outside a 70 cm diameter drum that is 100-150 cm long will increase the heat transfer coefficient at 500 ° C. provided to give, therefore 300 / cm ² instead of about 500 watts / cm ² is a more conservative value. At its heat transfer coefficient, the inner surface can handle 9.89 MW per side, so there is room for an extra relative to the other three surfaces on the square tubing. If gas circulation is provided on the outer coil surface, the heat transfer coefficient will be doubled.

The amount in the core of an exemplary unit would be about 380,000 cc or 570,000 at 10.2 grams / cc ThO itself, but operated with 1 gram / cc of dispersed powder. Thorium loading will be ~ 380 Kg (1.315 ft ³ ThO) for a meter length, and 1.5 times the amount (570 Kg ThO) for a 1.5 meter length. Become. The expected burn rate will be about 10% over 5 years and the power rate will be about 88.25 × 10 ¹² J / Kg. However, this means that the beam current is throttled to the upper limit of the Molly cooling tube (eg, a 1 cm square or round tube near the perimeter of the drum, with a helical coil 8 cm in diameter covering the fan spindle). It also means (for example) that the The SiC portion will be acceptable up to 1,000 ° C or higher.

Radioactive decontamination The DDWA-reflectron gamma ray generation (emitter) device described above may also be provided with an emission conversion target mounted at the focus of a set of grazing incidence mirrors. This design allows the device to be mounted on a movable platform using a gimbaled aimable mirror support structure. This concept makes it possible to adjust the target at the mirror focus, for example to collimate or focus on the desired target in a practical device, for example to decontaminate radioactive contamination targets.

  This concept can provide hundreds of kilowatts of inducible, intense gamma-ray beams that can be contaminated sites (eg decommissioned reactors or waste) or dirty bombs resulting from nuclear or terrorist attacks. Can be used to decontaminate sites where it has been used, or for the repair of nuclear reactors damaged by destructive activities or natural disasters, such as those caused by earthquakes and tsunamis in Fukushima, Japan. Contaminated waste sites can also be decontaminated by such devices.

  FIG. 14 provides one example of such an apparatus 300. One or more controllable beam emitters 310 (such as, for example, the DDWA-based gamma ray generator described herein) are disposed on a mobile platform 320. A beam focusing and directing device 340 (mirror or other reflector, lens, and / or various orientation motors or solenoids, hinges, gears, etc.) is provided to direct the emitter output beam to the contamination target 390. Is done. A mobile control and power supply 330 is provided to control the emitter 340 and to manage the device 340, although an external power supply may be used if one is available.

  Such devices may also be used for other purposes (eg, as a weapon or as an energy source for transmitting energy).

  An exemplary DDWA gamma ray generator with a beam device of about 125 MeV below 200 mA may be provided as an example embodiment that may be utilized in system 300. Such devices can be operated in series to enhance the emitter beam power. Protons, deuterons, or alpha particles can be used for the separation of thorium nuclei as well as spallation neutrons. While other types of beams can be used to decontaminate other radioactive materials, such as plutonium, uranium, radium, americium, etc., about 8 MeV ± 2 MeV protons, 16 MeV ± 4 MeV deuterons, or about 32 MeV of alpha particles. The energy value of ± 8 MeV is the target energy for fissioning thorium.

  Numerous other example embodiments may be provided by variously combining the features described above. Although examples and alternatives have been used in the above embodiments, various additional alternatives to the elements and / or steps described herein may be used without necessarily departing from the intended scope of the present application. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that equivalents may be used and equivalents may be substituted. Modifications may be required to adapt the embodiments to particular situations or particular needs without departing from the intended scope of the present application. It is not intended that the application be limited to the specific implementations and example embodiments described herein, and that the claims be encompassed by the claims, verbatim or equivalent, disclosed or not disclosed It is intended that the broadest appropriate interpretation be made, including all novel and non-obvious embodiments.

Claims (17)

A nuclear reactor,
A radioactive fuel source;
Generating gamma rays directed toward the radioactive fuel source to cause a nuclear reaction at the radioactive fuel source and to generate neutrons to support neutron driven fission reactions at the radioactive fuel source The emitter device further comprises a capacitor element for accelerating charged particles, the capacitor element including a pair of electrodes, at least one of the electrodes Is at least partially coated with diamond or diamond-like carbon, the charged particles are subatomic particles, the nuclear reaction is a fission reaction, and the emitter device is a source for generating the subatomic particles. An emitter device , further comprising:
A storage system for storing the radioactive fuel supply and the ejector device;
A heat extraction system configured to extract heat from the reactor for transfer outside the reactor;
A nuclear reactor.   The reactor of claim 1 wherein the source of charged particles is a high density plasma flux proton injector device.   The reactor of claim 1 or 2, further comprising a source of protons for interacting with material provided or circulated in the reactor to produce neutrons to support the nuclear reaction.   The reactor according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a plurality of optical switches arranged around the capacitor element to provide a uniform current flow during the discharge.   The reactor of claim 4 wherein each of said optical switches comprises a diamond crystal.   The reactor according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising at least one cooling system for circulating a coolant in the eductor device.   7. The reactor of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the reactor comprises a plurality of the emitter devices, all of the emitter devices being configured to generate gamma rays directed toward the radioactive fuel supply. A nuclear reactor according to claim 1.   8. The polygonal container of claim 1, wherein said emitter device is provided in a polygonal container, said polygonal container comprising a portion of said radioactive fuel supply and a heat exchanger in each wall of said polygonal container. A nuclear reactor according to any one of the preceding claims.   The emitter device further comprises a capacitor element for accelerating charged particles, the capacitor element including a pair of electrodes, at least one of the electrodes being at least partially coated with diamond-like carbon. A nuclear reactor according to any one of the preceding claims.   The reactor is operated in a subcritical state, and the rate of radioactive decay of the radioactive fuel source is at least partially controlled by a control system that controls the emission of gamma radiation from the emitter device. A nuclear reactor according to any one of the preceding claims. A nuclear reactor,
A radioactive fuel source;
An emitter device configured to generate an energy beam directed toward the radioactive fuel source to cause a nuclear reaction at the radioactive fuel source, wherein the nuclear reaction is a fission reaction, The energy beam is a subatomic particle beam, and the emitter device comprises:
A source of charged particles, wherein the charged particles are subatomic particles ; and
A plurality of capacitor elements for accelerating the charged particles, each of the capacitor elements including a pair of electrodes, at least one of the electrodes of the capacitor element being at least partially diamond or diamond-like carbon. A capacitor element coated on the
A conduit formed through the capacitor element for transmitting the charged particles;
An emitter device comprising:
A cooling system for cooling the emitter device;
A heat extraction system configured to extract heat from the reactor for transfer outside the reactor;
A nuclear reactor.   The reactor of claim 11, wherein the source of charged particles is a high density plasma flux proton injector device.   The reactor according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising a source of protons for interacting with material provided or circulated in the reactor to produce neutrons to support the nuclear reaction.   The reactor of any one of claims 11 to 13, further comprising a plurality of optical switches arranged around the capacitor element to provide a uniform current flow during a discharge.   15. The reactor of claim 14 wherein each of said optical switches comprises a diamond crystal.   16. The reactor of claim 11, wherein said reactor comprises a plurality of said emitter devices, all of said emitter devices being configured to produce an energy beam directed towards said radioactive fuel supply. A nuclear reactor according to any one of the preceding claims.   The plurality of capacitor elements are stacked to form a capacitor array, wherein the capacitor array is configured to accelerate the charged particles through a conduit formed through the capacitor array; 17. Any one of claims 11 to 16, each comprising at least one electrode comprising diamond or diamond-like carbon and at least one optical switch configured for activation during discharge of said capacitor element. A nuclear reactor according to claim 1.

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