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2026 Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
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Latest News
What’s the most difficult question you’ve been asked as a maintenance instructor?
Blye Widmar
"Where are the prints?!"
This was the final question in an onslaught of verbal feedback, comments, and critiques I received from my students back in 2019. I had two years of instructor experience and was teaching a class that had been meticulously rehearsed in preparation for an accreditation visit. I knew the training material well and transferred that knowledge effectively enough for all the students to pass the class. As we wrapped up, I asked the students how they felt about my first big system-level class, and they did not hold back.
“Why was the exam from memory when we don’t work from memory in the plant?” “Why didn’t we refer to the vendor documents?” “Why didn’t we practice more on the mock-up?” And so on.
Philippe M. Bardet, Ryan P. Abbott, Chris Campen, James Franklin, Haihua Zhao, Per F. Peterson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 4 | November 2007 | Pages 932-937
Technical Paper | Inertial Fusion Technology: Drivers and Advanced Designs | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1613
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Z-Pinch IFE chamber fluid mechanics can be studied using simulant fluids such as water in reduced scale facilities. The use of porous liquid and solid blanket materials provides the key to mitigating blast effects from fusion reaction. The UCB Vacuum Hydraulics Experiment (VHEX) was recently upgraded with a large, annular inlet nozzle system to produce an annular porous liquid curtains to study Z-Pinch IFE chamber response. Explosives experiments in VHEX studied the response of the liquid structure to the detonation of high explosive C-4. The experiments demonstrated that the crushing of porous liquid structures is effective in transferring momentum uniformly into the blanket mass. No significant high-speed jetting or spall was observed exiting the shocked liquid structure. Independent measurement of the transient pressure history, coupled with high-speed video of the blanket response and final velocity, will provide the basis to validate gas dynamics and blanket response models.