A Sheared-Flow Stabilised Z-Pinch Fusion Reactor: Radial Balance, Electrode Lifetime and Repetition Economics

This paper presents a complete, computed design study of a fusion power plant based on a Z-pinch: a chamber in which a large axial current through the plasma generates the azimuthal field that confines it. The fuel is deuterium tritium, releasing 17.6 MeV per reaction, of which 14.1 MeV leaves with the neutron and 3.5 MeV stays with the alpha particle. Heating is by axial sheared plasma flow that stabilises the pinch against kink and sausage modes during the burn dwell, and the blanket concept is liquid lithium curtain surrounding the pinch chamber, renewed between pulses. Sizing follows from a zero-dimensional energy balance evaluated in the accompanying computation: target gain 14.62, time-averaged fusion power 190 MW, driver electrical demand 37.14 MW, gross electric output 98.01 MW and net electric output 45.68 MW. The minimum gain for electrical break-even at the stated driver efficiency is 5.814. Each shot releases 95 MJ of fusion energy from 6.5 MJ of driver energy delivered to the target, repeated at 2 Hz. The plant verdict on the stated assumptions is net positive. Where a quantity depends on an assumption that experiments have not yet demonstrated at the required value, that dependence is stated numerically so that the design can be re-scored as measurements improve. This study is simulated and computed from stated assumptions; it is not a measurement, and no part of the plant has been built. SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED.