Unitized wire arrays for Z-pinch machines: A feasibility study

For electricity production in a 1000 MW(e) Z-Pinch Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) power plant, a wire array must be produced and shot every second. The slow and painstaking manual assembly and insertion process developed for the present Z-Pinch experimental machines will have to be replaced with mass production and rapid automatic handling. This could be facilitated by making one piece, or unitized, wire arrays (UWA). This paper reviews potential UWA manufacturing processes; describes the results of etching, milling, laser-cutting, and lithography tests applied to an UWA design that could be shot on the Z-R machine for validation; assesses the feasibility of these processes for mass production; and proposes an alternate UWA design concept for easier manufacturing.