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Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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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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November 2025
Latest News
AI at work: Southern Nuclear’s adoption of Copilot agents drives fleet forward
Southern Nuclear is leading the charge in artificial intelligence integration, with employee-developed applications driving efficiencies in maintenance, operations, safety, and performance.
The tools span all roles within the company, with thousands of documented uses throughout the fleet, including improved maintenance efficiency, risk awareness in maintenance activities, and better-informed decision-making. The data-intensive process of preparing for and executing maintenance operations is streamlined by leveraging AI to put the right information at the fingertips for maintenance leaders, planners, schedulers, engineers, and technicians.
Randall B. Randolph, John A. Oertel, Derek W. Schmidt, Matthew N. Lee, Brian M. Patterson, Kevin C. Henderson, Christopher E. Hamilton
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August-September 2016 | Pages 230-236
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-205
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Machined CH hemi-shell ablator capsules have been successfully produced by the MST-7 Target Fabrication Team at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Process development and micro-machining techniques have been developed to produce capsules for both the Omega and National Ignition Facility (NIF) campaigns. These capsules are gas filled up to 10 atm and consist of a machined plastic hemi-shell outer layer that accommodates various specially engineered low-density polystyrene foam cores. Machining and assembly of the two-part, step-jointed plastic hemi-shell outer layer required development of new techniques, processes, and tooling while still meeting very aggressive shot schedules for both campaigns. Problems encountered and process improvements will be discussed that describe this very unique, complex capsule design approach through the first Omega proof-of-concept version to the larger NIF version.