Options for a Steady-State Compact Fusion Neutron Source

The new approach in advancing the use of fusion, “Fusion for Neutrons” (F4N), is proposed. The application of a small or medium size Spherical Tokamak (ST) as a powerful steady-state fusion neutron source (FNS) is discussed. An overview of various conceptual designs of such neutron sources is given and they are compared with a recently proposed Super Compact Fusion Neutron Source (SCFNS). It is shown that SCFNS with major radius as low as 0.5 is feasible and could produce several MW of neutrons in a steady-state regime.