ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Swiss nuclear power and the case for long-term operation
Designed for 40 years but built to last far longer, Switzerland’s nuclear power plants have all entered long-term operation. Yet age alone says little about safety or performance. Through continuous upgrades, strict regulatory oversight, and extensive aging management, the country’s reactors are being prepared for decades of continued operation, in line with international practice.
T. Someya, S. Kawata, T. Nakamura, A. I. Ogoyski, K. Shimizu, J. Sasaki
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 43 | Number 3 | May 2003 | Pages 282-289
Technical Paper | Targets and Target Protection During Injection | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A268
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Key issues of heavy-ion beam (HIB) inertial confinement fusion (ICF) include an efficient beam transport, beam focus, uniform fuel pellet implosion, etc. The HIB final transport and a direct-drive fuel pellet implosion by computer simulations in HIB ICF are examined. To realize a fine focus on a fuel pellet, space charge neutralization of incident-focusing HIBs may be required at HIB final transport. First, an insulator annular tube guide is proposed at the final portion of the transport, through which an HIB is transported. The physical mechanism of HIB charge neutralization based on an insulator guide is as follows: The local electric field created by HIB induces local discharges, and a plasma is produced on the insulator inner surface. Then electrons are extracted from the plasma by HIB net space charge. The emitted electrons neutralize the beam space charge and move together with the HIB. After the final transport, the HIBs enter a reactor gas and illuminate a fuel pellet. Direct-drive DT pellet implosion were also simulated. The simulation results present a density valley formation by a Pb HIB deposition in a fuel pellet energy absorber layer and a radiation-smoothing effect along the density valley. The density valley provides radiation confinement, and beam nonuniformity can be smoothed along the valley.