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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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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.
H. Xu, A. Nikroo, J. R. Wall, R. Doerner, M. Baldwin, J. H. Yu
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 4 | May 2006 | Pages 778-785
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1201
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Beryllium is one of the preferred ablators for achieving ignition in inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Thin and thick coatings of Be on CH shells have been deposited using a sputter coater established at UCSD's PISCES facility and examined using a variety of characterization techniques. Due to the spherical nature of these substrates, shadowing effects are expected to play significant roles in film growth as well as the expected surface diffusion length of deposited atoms. Be coatings on flat surfaces and spherical surfaces have been deposited and compared to understand the material growth behaviors on different surfaces and as a function of processing parameters. On flat surfaces, Be film developed polycrystalline morphology with columnar growth. On spherical surfaces, Be film also showed columnar growth at lower powers, which then transitioned into a twisted grain structure at higher powers. Cycling of parameters has been used to investigate possible grain growth interruption during growth and improving morphology. Initial results also suggest that copper doping during deposition does not change the columnar growth morphology. Measurements of the surface roughness of beryllium-coated shells indicate roughness growth proportional to the thickness with an exponent of 0.8 to 1.2, which is consistent with shadowing dominated roughening. As ion-beam-assisted growth may improve the surface finish and micro-structure of deposited films, we have also studied the effect of process parameters on the flux and energy of the ions reaching the substrates using an offline energy dispersive mass spectrometer system.