EXPANSION OF NUCLEAR BURST DEBRIS IN THE MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT REGIME

SDI SYSTEMS DESIGN AND OPERATIONS CAN BENEFIT FROM A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE NUCLEAR PHENOMENOLOGY AT BURST ALTITUDES AROUND 1500 KM. SALVAGE FUZING OF INTERCEPTED WARHEADS COULD PRODUCE NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS AT THESE ALTITUDES. KNOWLEDGE OF THE RESULTING NUCLEAR ENVIRONMENT CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE SDI SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE. FOR BURST ALTITUDES AROUND 1500 KM, EXPANDING DEBRIS IS EXPECTED TO SLOW PREDOMINATELY BY MAGNETIC FORCES. THEORETICAL UNDERSTANDING OF NUCLEAR BURSTS IN THIS MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT REGIME IS VERY LIMITED BECAUSE EXISTING TEST DATA IS AT MUCH LOWER ALTITUDES. STUDY OF DEBRIS EXPANSION HERE COULD BE PURSUED VIA AN AXISYMMETRIC, THREE DIMENSIONAL, HYBRID (ELECTRON FLUID/ION PARTICLES) CODE TO EXAMINE WAVE-PARTICLE INSTABILITIES, IN COMBINATION WITH A PROCEDURE FOR INCLUDING THEIR EFFECTS IN FASTER MHD FLUID-LIKE CALCULATIONS. TO PREPARE GROUNDWORK FOR SUCH STUDY, THE PHASE I OBJECTIVES ARE: (1) TO ESTIMATE PHYSICAL PARAMETER RANGES VIA MHD CALCULATION OF THE MAGNETIC BUBBLE SHAPE AND TIME TO ITS MAXIMUM EXPANSION; (2) TO DESIGN AN AXISYMMETRIC HYBRID PLASMA TREATMENT AND DETERMINE LIMITS ON APPLICABILITY TO COUPLING SHELL EXPANSION; AND (3) TO EXAMINE THE PRACTICALITY OF A TRUNCATED MOMENT METHOD FOR INCLUDING WAVEPARTICLE EFFECTS IN MHD APPROACHES.