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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Fusion Science and Technology
November 2025
Latest News
AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
M. D. Shirk, B. T. Kelly, S. M. Haynes, B. C. Stuart, J. J. Sanchez, J. D. Moody, R. C. Cook
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 4 | May 2006 | Pages 818-821
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST49-818
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Laser machining technology has been used to demonstrate the ability to rapidly perform jobs on all aspects of ICF targets. Lasers are able to rapidly perform modifications and repairs to the gold metal parts on hohlraums, make cuts in the delicate polymer parts of the hohlraum, and drill holes in the capsules to enable them to be filled with fuel. Lasers investigated in this work include 193 nm ArF and 248 nm KrF excimers and 810 nm chirped-pulse amplification Ti:Sapphire lasers. The excimer lasers showed a definite advantage in drilling and machining of polymeric materials and the ultrashort infrared pulses of the Ti:Sapphire laser were far better for the gold structures.
