Systems Modeling for Z-IFE Power Plants

A systems model has been developed for Z-IFE power plants. The model includes cost and performance scaling for the target physics, z-pinch driver, chamber, power conversion system and target/RTL manufacturing plant. As the base case we consider the dynamic hohlraum target and a thick liquid wall chamber with flibe as the working fluid. Driver cost and efficiency are evaluated parametrically since various options are still being considered. The model allows for power plants made up of multiple chambers and power conversion units supplied by a central target/RTL manufacturing plant. Initial results indicate that plants with few chambers operating at high yield are economically more attractive than the 10-unit plant previously proposed. Various parametric and sensitivity studies have been completed and are discussed.