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August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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North American construction is back—smaller and faster—at OPG’s Darlington
“The nuclear renaissance is real here,” said Ontario Power Generation’s Subo Sinnathamby on May 8, one year to the day after OPG secured a final investment decision to build the first of four planned BWRX-300 reactors at its Darlington nuclear power plant, and shortly after the new reactor’s foundation was lifted into place. “We got our license to construct in April and our [final investment decision] in May, and we’ve been off to the races since.”
J. P. Armstrong, A. M. Rubenchik, J. Gunther, B. C. Stuart
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 49 | Number 4 | May 2006 | Pages 822-831
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST06-A1208
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A laser processing system has been developed to drill high aspect ratio holes through the impermeable beryllium capsules envisioned for ignition shots on NIF. The drilling system was designed to produce holes with an entrance and exit diameter of approximately 5 m through the full 175 m thickness of the capsule. To meet these requirements, a frequency doubled femtosecond-class Ti:Sapphire laser is directed through a high numerical aperture lens to provide the spot geometry needed to drill the hole. The laser pulse is confined by the metallic walls of the hole, thereby maintaining the diameter of the channel well beyond the Rayleigh range of the optical system. Presented is the current state of this work-in-progress, including descriptions of the device and the technique used to produce the holes. The various means of characterizing the laser-drilled channels are also discussed.