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Second round of Launch Pad selections includes eight newcomers
The National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory has announced 13 project selections across 12 companies for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, a Department of Energy–led program that integrates reactor and fuel facility authorization, testing, and deployment support for private nuclear developers.
The Launch Pad emerged from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program.
According to INL, projects selected include reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements, including fabrication, enrichment, and conversion technologies.
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.