Stellarator-Mirror Hybrid with Neutral Beam Injection

A stellarator-mirror fusion-fission hybrid has recently been proposed. Neutral beam injection (NBI) is here studied numerically for this hybrid using a two-dimensional kinetic code, KNBIM. The code accounts for Coulomb collisions between the hot ions and the background plasma. The geometry of the confining magnetic field is arbitrary for the code and is accounted for via a numerical bounce averaging procedure. Along with the kinetic calculations the neutron production intensity is computed.

The calculated hot ion distribution function from NBI is used in power balance estimates for the whole system. The requirement that the fast neutrals should be efficiently captured in the plasma is imposed to restrict the range of plasma parameters. The results obtained balance calculations are close to results obtained previously with a bi-Maxwellian ion distribution function. The calculated parameters for a power producing stellarator mirror device and within modern top technical capabilities. The parameters of plasma and NBI characteristics seem also attainable. The calculated fusion Q is within a range with potential for energy production in a hybrid reactor.