Transmutation of Actinides Using Z-Pinch Fusion

Sandia National Laboratories has initiated a scoping level design of a sub-critical transmutation reactor driven by Z-Pinch fusion. The baseline design is able to burn up 1,280 kg of actinides per year while at the same time producing 3,000 MW_th. The fusion driver required for this application is 20 MW, or a 200 MJ target fired once every 10 seconds. This paper discusses how a fusion actinide burner can fit into the nuclear fuel cycle.