Inner Frozen Metal Blanket Concept for an ICF Reactor

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Abstract
A new blanket concept for an inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactor is proposed for protecting the structural materials from the impact of X-rays and plasma and controlling the plasma expansion. The inner blanket consists of several cm of frozen metal with holes for entry of the laser beams and for blow-off of the plasmas. The inner blanket is injected from the top of the reactor chamber at a speed of about 50 m/s. It is located near the fuel pellet (∼10 cm from the pellet and ∼5 m from the structural materials). When a microexplosion occurs, the inner frozen metal blanket is melted by the neutron heating and falls into the liquid metal pool, expanding and being guided by the magnetic field. The performance and neutronics calculations of the inner blanket are presented here using a simple model.