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

PRODUCTION COST ESTIMATES

This chart shows simplified estimates of antimatter cost. Cost components are generally normalized to the proton accelerator beam power. Resultant costs are shown for both reliance on external power and reliance on self-powering.

The cost estimates enclosed by the dashed line [here shown in bold] appear sufficiently constrained to be a priori acceptable for many potential applications. These costs are of course uncertain, since adequately comprehensive estimates have not yet been made. On the other hand, these costs could change by large factors and still be tolerable for the mission applications contemplated.

The production costs cited are to include costs of some steps beyond just antiproton production ( slide 10). We may wish to produce atomic or molecular antihydrogen in a condensed phase, for example, as the standard product. There are in principle several ways one could go from the antiproton beam step to, say, the molecular antihydrogen step, differing in where the positron is introduced and what stage of antihydrogen formation one emphasizes. Starting from an antiproton beam, one might wish to trap antiprotons, then form and continue to trap successively atomic and molecular antihydrogen; or, starting from an antiproton beam, one might attempt to form "on the fly" an atomic antihydrogen beam, then a molecular antihydrogen beam, and then finally trap, store and condense the molecular beam, etc. This shifts ever present difficulties (for example, the energy release in the atomic to molecular conversion) to different stages of the total production process, and will require more detailed cost estimation once some (if any) particular process path is decided to be realizable.