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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
T. Cardenas, D. W. Schmidt, E. S. Dodd, T. S. Perry, D. Capelli, T. Quintana, J. A. Oertel, Dominic Peterson, E. Giraldez, R. F. Heeter
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 73 | Number 3 | April 2018 | Pages 458-466
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1389559
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Accurate models for opacity of partially ionized atoms are important for modeling and understanding stellar interiors and other high-energy-density phenomena such as inertial confinement fusion. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is leading a multilaboratory effort to conduct experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to try to reproduce recent opacity tests at the Sandia National Laboratory Z-facility. Since 2015, the NIF effort has evolved several hohlraum designs that consist of multiple pieces joined together. The target also has three components attached to the main stalk over a long distance with high tolerances that have resulted in several design iterations. The target has made use of rapid prototyped features to attach a capsule and collimator under the hohlraum while avoiding interference with the beams. This paper discusses the evolution of the hohlraum and overall target design and the challenges involved with fabricating and assembling these targets.