The design of a muon-catalyzed reactor system is dominated by the need for an on-line accelerator to produce pi-mesons which are collected and then decay into the desired muons in a domain of interest. In this respect, the muon catalyzed fusion power flow pattern resembles that of an inertial confinement fusion system, Fig. 11.2, particularly with respect to the need for a significant recirculating power flow to the accelerator.

While a generally accepted design has yet to emerge-and largely awaits the development of suitable accelerators yielding a sufficiently intense beam of muons-we can conceive of a generalized schematic such as depicted in Fig.12.5. Here, light ions (p, d or t) of energy in excess of ~1 GeV will strike a low atomic mass number target with the transmitted ions either recirculated by magnetic forces or allowed to impact upon one or more successive targets of increasing atomic mass. The pi-meson will be emitted with a highly anisotropic directional distribution to be collected for decay into muons. The muons thus produced would be collected and focused onto a cylindrical fusion core consisting of liquid deuterium and tritium under very high pressure and at a temperature ~103 K. This cylindrical fusion core will be surrounded by a blanket which serves, variously and as required, the functions of (i) tritium breeding, (ii) fissile fuel breeding, and

(iii) energy removal.

The technology required to develop this conceptual system has many similarities to that involved in other fusion concepts; however, the pi on collector, the focusing of muons into the fusion core, and the efficient recovery of residual energy in the accelerator target are problems yet to be resolved.

Liquid