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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Masaru Takagi, Kyle Saito, Christopher Frederick, Abbas Nikroo, Robert Cook
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 51 | Number 4 | May 2007 | Pages 638-642
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST51-638
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We have developed a technique for drawing commercially available polyimide tubing to the required fill tube dimensions. The tubes are then precisely cut with an Excimer laser to produce a clean, flat tip. We have also demonstrated that one can use the Excimer laser to drill less than a 5 m diameter through hole in the ~150 wall of a NIF dimension GDP shell, and can then create a 10-15 m diameter, 20-40 m deep counterbore centered on the through hole with the same laser. Using a home built assembly station the tube is carefully inserted into the counterbore and glued in place with UV-cure epoxy, using a LED UV source to avoid heating the joint. We expect that the same joining technique can be used for Be shells.