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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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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Latest News
Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
Matthew F. Wolford, John D. Sethian, Matthew C. Myers, Frank Hegeler, John L. Giuliani, Stephen P. Obenschain
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 2 | August 2013 | Pages 179-186
IFE | Proceedings of the Twentieth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE-2012) (Part 1), Nashville, Tennessee, August 27-31, 2012 | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-502
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing the krypton fluoride (KrF) laser technology for a direct drive laser inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant. The overall projected wall plug efficiency for KrF laser system is ~7%, including thermal management and optical losses. There are two KrF lasers at NRL. The first, Nike, provides up to 3 kJ of laser light per shot for experimental research in KrF laser-target interactions. The Electra Laser at NRL is a repetitively pulsed electron beam pumped 700 Joule KrF laser facility. The objective with Electra is to develop technologies to meet the IFE requirements for repetition rate, efficiency, and durability. Electra produces over 750 Joules in oscillator mode. Based on experiments, there is expected to be virtually no degradation in the laser focal profile, even at 5 Hz, high efficiency operation. Progress in durability has lead to achievement of KrF laser runs for 10 continuous hours at 2.5 Hz (90,000 shots) and 100 minutes at 5 Hz (over 30,000 shots). The main impediment to achieving long duration runs is the present pulsed power system that is based on spark gap switches. NRL has developed a new all solid state system that has operated for 11 million pulses continuously at 10 Hz and is based on components attaining 300 million pulses. These studies show an electron beam pumped KrF laser should be a viable approach for a laser fusion energy driver.
