We introduce a new IFE fusion-chamber concept called HydroStar that uses DT-ignited DD targets and a water blanket. The driver can be either a 13 to 16-MJ diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) with fast ignition, or a 4-MJ heavy-ion accelerator operating at a reprate 10 times faster than the fusion chamber to accumulate sufficient energy in storage rings to direct 40 MJ at the target. The driver employs a prepulse system to burn an ionized path through the ambient fusion-chamber vapors, whose operating pressure is about 20 atm. We assume that the targets, which have a yield of about 2800 MJ, can be indirectly driven with two-sided illumination. The blanket, which is 1 to 2-m thick and placed immediately inside the structural wall, is operated just over 100 C either in a liquid or frothed-liquid state, the latter being preferred to reduce stresses in the structural wall. The structural wall, at a radius of 4 to 5 m, is composed of low-carbon steels to avoid the stress-corrosion cracking problems that have plagued certain light-water-reactor (LWR) systems.
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