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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
M. Inutake, A. Ando, K. Hattori, H. Tobari, T. Makita, H. Isobe (20R01)
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 2 | February 2007 | Pages 141-146
Technical Paper | Open Magnetic Systems for Plasma Confinement | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1335
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Dynamics of a fast-flowing plasma through a magnetic mirror field was investigated. A highly-ionized, high-density, He plasma produced by a quasi-steady MPD arcjet (MPDA) was injected into a magnetic mirror. In a uniform magnetic field region, ion acoustic Mach number (Mi) was almost unity, while in a diverging field region the Mach number increased up to 2-3. When the supersonic plasma flows into a converging field region, a shock-like structure was formed. The subsonic flow downstream of the shock was re-accelerated up to Mi of 2-3. The sonic condition (Mi=1) is satisfied at the magnetic mirror throat as in a conventional Laval nozzle. The adiabatic exponent of ions was evaluated by comparing measured spatial profiles with the prediction from 1D isentropic model.