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Fusion Science and Technology
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Remembering ANS member Gil Brown
Brown
The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.
Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.
Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”
A. Nobile, S. C. Dropinski, J. M. Edwards, G. Rivera, R. W. Margevicius, R. J. Sebring, R. E. Olson, D. L. Tanner
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 127-136
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A439
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Beryllium-copper alloy (Be0.9%Cu) ICF capsules are being developed for the pursuit of thermonuclear ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Success of this capsule material requires that its shock propagation and radiation burnthrough characteristics be accurately understood. To this end, experiments are being conducted to measure the shock propagation and radiation burnthrough properties of Be0.9%Cu alloy. These experiments involve measurements on small Be0.9%Cu wedge, step and flat samples. Samples are mounted on 1.6-mm-diameter × 1.2-mm-length hohlraums that are illuminated by the OMEGA laser at the University of Rochester. X-rays produced by the hohlraum drive the sample. A streaked optical pyrometer detects breakout of the shock produced by the X-ray pulse. In this paper we describe synthesis of the alloy material, fabrication and characterization of samples, and assembly of the targets. Samples were produced from Be0.9%Cu alloy that was synthesized by hot isostatic pressing of Be powder and copper flake. Samples were 850 m diameter disks with varying thickness in the case of wedge and step samples, and uniform thickness in the case of flat samples. Sample thickness varied in the range 10-90 m. Samples were prepared by precision lathe machining and electric discharge machining. The samples were characterized by a Veeco white light interferometer and an optical thickness measurement device that simultaneously measured the upper and lower surface contours of samples using two confocal laser probes. Several campaigns with these samples have been conducted over the past two years.
