ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2026
Nuclear Technology
January 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Playing the “bad guy” to enhance next-generation safety
Sometimes, cops and robbers is more than just a kid’s game. At the Department of Energy’s national laboratories, researchers are channeling their inner saboteurs to discover vulnerabilities in next-generation nuclear reactors, making sure that they’re as safe as possible before they’re even constructed.
P. B. Mirkarimi, K. A. Bettencourt, M. C. Kellam, P. J. Davis, N. E. Teslich, J. B. Alameda
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 59 | Number 1 | January 2011 | Pages 133-138
Technical Paper | Nineteenth Target Fabrication Meeting | doi.org/10.13182/FST10-3682
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
There is significant interest in the measurement of the equation of state and other parameters at high pressures and low temperatures. An example is iron, which plays a critical role in planetary interiors. Targets are needed to perform these important measurements on experimental platforms such as Omega and the National Ignition Facility. We have developed a process to successfully deposit thick (several tens of microns), stepped iron and tantalum films on thin diamond substrates, to fabricate these targets. We will discuss the technical challenges that were encountered and overcome in their fabrication, such as stress/delamination in the iron system, and in achieving the desired phase in the tantalum system. We will also present characterization results on these targets.