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Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.
J. D. Zuegel, S. Borneis, C. Barty, B. Legarrec, C. Danson, N. Miyanaga, P. K. Rambo, C. Leblanc, T. J. Kessler, A. W. Schmid, L. J. Waxer, J. H. Kelly, B. Kruschwitz, R. Jungquist, E. Moses, J. Britten, I. Jovanovic, J. Dawson, N. Blanchot
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 3 | April 2006 | Pages 453-482
Technical Paper | Fast Ignition | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1161
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The laser challenges and state of the art in high-energy, solid-state petawatt lasers for fast ignition (FI) research are reviewed. A number of new laser systems are currently under construction or being planned that will facilitate proof-of-principle FI experiments. Recent technological advances in each of the major ultrafast laser subsystems are reported, including chirped-pulse generation and broadband amplification in the front end, high-energy amplification, and pulse compression with adaptive wavefront correction. Unique challenges related to operating high-energy chirped-pulse-amplification laser systems for FI, such as protection from target back reflections, are also addressed.