Concepts, Problems, & Opportunities for use of Annihilation Energy:

An Annotated Briefing on Near-Term RDT&E to Assess Feasibility

RAND Note N-2302-AF/RC

B. W. Augenstein

OUTLINE OF DISCUSSION

Background; where we are

Key problems

Production issues; product cost estimates
Compact Storage

Sample of basic research, experimental results

A very rich menu exists
Performable in academic, industrial, national lab settings

Illustration of systems issues

Development program example

Summary

The outline of the discussion shows the context in which we discuss the central issues of annihilation energy. Some of the problems involved are reviewed in terms of potential systems payoffs. That is: If we could overcome some of the evident difficulties of utilizing annihilation energies, would there be worthwhile benefits to such utilization? We will note later that some care needs to be taken in these discussions--there are treatments in which it is easy to ignore some of the essential physics in specific areas and come up with a faulty perspective of possible payoffs. A case in point arises in the discussion of intranuclear absorption and its relevance in calculations of the amount of localized energy deposition taking place when annihilations occur in normal matter targets ( slide 19 et seq.).