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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
Standards Program
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
October 2025
Latest News
Shifting the paradigm of supply chain
Chad Wolf
When I began my nuclear career, I was coached up in the nuclear energy culture of the day to “run silent, run deep,” a mindset rooted in the U.S. Navy’s submarine philosophy. That was the norm—until Fukushima.
The nuclear renaissance that many had envisioned hit a wall. The focus shifted from expansion to survival. Many utility communications efforts pivoted from silence to broadcast, showcasing nuclear energy’s elegance and reliability. Nevertheless, despite being clean baseload 24/7 power that delivered a 90 percent capacity factor or higher, nuclear energy was painted as risky and expensive (alongside energy policies and incentives that favored renewables).
Economics became a driving force threatening to shutter nuclear power. The Delivering the Nuclear Promise initiative launched in 2015 challenged the industry to sustain high performance yet cut costs by up to 30 percent.
R.L. Engelstad, J.W. Powers, E.G. Lovell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 697-702
Inertial Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29426
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Results are presented for the preliminary mechanical design of a light ion beam Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF). Applications of the facility include the development of high gain, high yield ICF targets. The LMF target chamber must meet the requirements imposed by the ion beam propagation, and survive severe target blast loadings. Yields from 10 to 1000 MJ are considered for a projected lifetime of up to 15,000 shots. The chamber will be subjected to repeated loadings that include intense x-ray vaporization of the first wall surface, resulting in large amplitude pressure waves. A carbon/carbon composite thermal liner has been proposed to attenuate the radial shock waves and protect the structural wall. Nevertheless, the chamber wall must still be designed to withstand large impulsive and residual pressures. The proposed target chamber consists of a capped cylindrical shell that is 1.5 m in radius and 4.5 m in height. The analysis of the mechanical response of the structural wall from the repetitive dynamic overpressures is described in detail. Modified elastic constants are used to account for the higher ligament stresses and strains which are present between the beam ports and diagnostic ports. In addition, fatigue lifetime calculations have been made according to ASME guidelines, applying cumulative damage criteria specified by Miner's rule. A modified rainflow cycle counting method was used in conjunction with Goodman diagrams to determine equivalent stresses and strains to be used with the constant amplitude, fully reversed fatigue data. Both 6061-T6 aluminum and 2 1/4 Cr - 1 Mo steel are considered for the structural materials, with maximum stress and fatigue design results developed for a range of thicknesses and overpressures.
