Particle Beam Fusion Acceleratr-I (PBFA-I)

The first Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator (PBFA-I) has recently completed its operational series of tests. It provided 30 TW into 36 power flow lines terminated in electron beam loads at the accelerator´s center. The outputs were 2 MV at 15 MA for a 40 ns pulse which provided 1 MJ of output energy. During the accelerator develcpament, several ways of modifying and reconnecting this modular, few MV output pulsed power were discovered. The data from PBFA-I tests show the flexibility and reliability of pulsed power. This technology base could provide a 100 TW accelerator known as PBFA-II which will be the light ion beam test bed for breakeven experiments for the Department of Energy´s Inertial Confinement Fusion Program. Pulsed power technology continues to be flexible and adaptable to a wide variety of basic research problems. It is a cost effective technology for producing large pulsed energy outputs.