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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.
D. G. Czechowicz, C. J. Chen, J. A. Dorman, D. A. Steinman
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 4 | May 2007 | Pages 600-605
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST51-600
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A problem often observed for thick wall plastic targets is the presence of surface domes. We have been successful in applying mechanical polishing to remove isolated surface domes from thick wall 2 mm shells during a preliminary investigation. The background surface roughness for polished shells was dramatically improved with final values typically around 10 nm RMS as measured by WYKO patch surface profiles. The polishing sequence applied was also examined using AFM spheremapper data that was obtained for shells after each polishing step. A two-step polishing approach was able to produce shells that had significant improvement in all AFM power modes except for modes (3.10). Further polishing development is needed to reduce AFM low and mid power modes for shells. Polishing of otherwise target quality 2 mm shells that have domes could be a future treatment for NIF targets.