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Commercial nuclear innovation "new space" age
In early 2006, a start-up company launched a small rocket from a tiny island in the Pacific. It exploded, showering the island with debris. A year later, a second launch attempt sent a rocket to space but failed to make orbit, burning up in the atmosphere. Another year brought a third attempt—and a third failure. The following month, in September 2008, the company used the last of its funds to launch a fourth rocket. It reached orbit, making history as the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to do so.
R. E. Tokheim, L. Seaman, T. Cooper, B. Lew, D. R. Curran, J. Sanchez, A. Anderson, M. Tobin
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 745-751
Plasma-Facing Components: Analysis and Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963024
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The purpose of this work is to computationally assess the threat from shrapnel generation on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) first wall, final optics, and ultimately other target chamber components. Shrapnel is defined as material that is in a solid, liquid, or clustered-vapor phase with sufficient velocity to become a threat to exposed surfaces as a consequence of its impact. Typical NIF experiments will be of two types, low neutron yield shots in which the capsule is not cryogenically cooled, and high yield shots for which cryogenic cooling of the capsule is required. For non-cryogenic shots, shrapnel would be produced by spalling, melting, and vaporizing of “shine shields” by absorption and shock wave loading following 1-ω and 2-ω laser radiation. For cryogenic shots, shrapnel would be generated through shock wave splitting, spalling, and droplet formation of the cryogenic tubes following neutron energy deposition. Motion of the shrapnel is determined not only by particle velocities resulting from the neutron deposition, but also by both x-ray and ionic debris loading arising from explosion of the hohlraum. Material responses of different target area components are computed from one-dimensional and two-dimensional stress wave propagation codes. Well developed rate-dependent spall computational models are used for stainless steel spall and splitting. Severe cell distortion is accounted for in shine-shield and hohlraum-loading computations. Resulting distributions of shrapnel particles are traced to the first wall and optics and damage is estimated for candidate materials. First wall and optical material damage from shrapnel includes crater formation and associated extended cracking.