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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting Spotlight
Conference on Nuclear Training and Education: A Biennial International Forum (CONTE 2025)
February 3–6, 2025
Amelia Island, FL|Omni Amelia Island Resort
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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Latest News
Christmas Night
Twas the night before Christmas when all through the houseNo electrons were flowing through even my mouse.
All devices were plugged in by the chimney with careWith the hope that St. Nikola Tesla would share.
C. W. Hartman, J. L. Eddleman, J. H. Hammer, B. G. Logan, H. S. McLean, R. W. Moir, A. W. Molvik
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 776-786
Inertial Confinement Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946936
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Compact Torus Accelerator (CTA), under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, offers the promise of a low-cost, high-efficiency, high-energy, high-power-density driver for ICF and MICF (Magnetically Insulated ICF) type fusion systems. A CTA with 100 MJ driver capacitor bank energy is predicted to deliver ~30 MJ CT kinetic energy to a 1 cm2 target in several nanoseconds for a power density of ~1016 watts/cm2. The estimated cost of delivered energy is ~3$/Joule. We discuss indirect-drive ICF with a DT fusion energy gain Q = 70 for a total yield of 2 GJ. A reactor system for CT injection, target emplacement, containment, energy recovery, and breeding will be described. The CTA naturally lends itself as a driver for MICF where an energetic (≈100 MJ) CT is injected into a containment sphere generating shock heating which initiates a magnetically insulated DT burn with refueling for Q ≃ 70 and a fusion yield of 7 GJ. The containment sphere, which is chosen to be several 14 MeV neutron mfp's thick, is vaporized and heated by fusion neutrons and expands into the main reactor containment chamber to form the working gas for direct electrical energy recovery through an MHD generator cycle. Application of the MICF system to spaceship propulsion will also be discussed.