Conor A Christon

I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2021. I then moved to the University of Cardiff to continue my studies, doing an MSc in Astrophysics. There I worked on projects involving the photometry of extragalactic supernovae and the modelling of the central engines of Active Galactic Nuclei. I also got involved in outreach activities both in schools and online. This led to me working in an educational support role for children with special educational needs and disabilities after graduating. I applied to join the CDT because I still hold a passion for research, and I am excited to contribute to the growing and significant field of fusion.

My project is entitled “Fuel burn up in Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy (ICF)”. The fuel used in ICF forms part of a spherical capsule. This consists of a cryogenic mix of deuterium(D) and tritium(T) surrounded by an outer shell known as the ablator. We generally assume that the fuel inside the capsule contains an even fraction of D and T throughout; this however is not the only option that can be envisaged. “Stratified” fuel capsule designs have a fuel composition that is dependent on radial position. This is an interesting scenario as it could be used to solve a common problem in ICF burning. Deuterium is plentiful in nature; tritium, on the other hand, must be made via nuclear processes which is costly. In addition, if not replenished continually, stockpiles deplete due to tritium’s half-life of 12.3 years. Basic considerations of ICF target functioning show that the outer layers of the fuel do not undergo fusion and are therefore deposited unburnt in the target chamber. This fuel then needs recycling and the tritium reintroducing to the usable inventory. However, if, for example, the outer layers contain lower concentrations of tritium then there is less need to recycle unburnt fuel. Furthermore, fuel with high deuterium concentrations can be used to breed tritium, helping to minimize the requirement for tritium breeding in the reactor vessel walls.

Targets with a tritium concentration that is radially dependent have not yet been thoroughly investigated and the effects that such a change would have on other aspects of the target’s behaviour are unclear. I will use computational models to explore both the stability and performance of targets with stratified fuel ion concentrations in order to gain new insights into the behaviour of such systems.

My supervisors are Dr John Pasley (University of York) and Dr Alex Robinson (Central Laser facility). This project is co funded at 50% by the EPSRC and 50% by the Central Laser facility.

Supervisors

• Dr John Pasley
• Dr Alex Robinson