Civilian Applications of Particle-Beam-Initiated Inertial Confinement Fusion Technology; SAND77-0516

103, [1] pages. Illustrations/Figures. Formulae. Page 59-60 is a fold-out. References. Front cover wear. Back cover creased with institutional stamp. Gerold Yonas, American research and development director. Recipient medal for outstanding public service Secretary of Defense, 1986. Fellow American Physical Society; associate fellow American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; member Fusion Power Association. Dr. Yonas was a Senior scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1962-1967; manager beam research, Physics International, 1967-1972; manager pulsed power science, Sandia National laboratories, 1972-1984; Deputy Director, Strategic Defense Initiative Official, Office Secretary Defense, Washington, 1984-1986; president, Titan Technologies, La Jolla, California, 1986-1989; vice president systems applications, Sandia National Laboratories, since 1989. Advisor White House, Pentagon, and NASA. Electric power generation by controlled fusion may provide a partial solution to the world's long-term energy supply problem. Achievement of a fusion reaction required the confinement of an extremely hot plasma for a time long enough to allow fuel burnup. Inertial confinement of the plasma may be possible through the use of tightly focused, relativistic electron or ion beams to compress the fuel pellet. The Sandia Particle Beam Fusion program was developing the particle-beam accelerators necessary to achieve fuel ignition. In this report, the authors review the status of the particle-beam fusion technology development program and identify several potential civilian applications for this technology. Then they identify and discuss applicaitons for the beam technology and for the fusion neutrons. The applications are grouped in near-term, intermediate-term, and long-term categories. One of the potential near-term applications for the beam technology was electron-beam pumping of gas lasers.…