ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
March 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
January 2026
Latest News
Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
S. R. Klein, E. J. Gamboa, C. M. Huntington, C. C. Kuranz, P. Susalla, S. Chadwick, B. Lairson, D. E. Hoover, F. Elsner, G. Malamud, C. Di Stefano, R. S. Gillespie, R. P. Drake
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 63 | Number 2 | March-April 2013 | Pages 305-312
Technical Paper | Selected papers from 20th Target Fabrication Meeting, May 20-24, 2012, Santa Fe, NM, Guest Editor: Robert C. Cook | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-A16355
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The University of Michigan has been fabricating targets for OMEGA campaigns since 2003. These experiments explore supernova-relevant high-energy-density physics. The complexity of recent target designs has made it necessary to explore new methods of producing components that satisfy experimental needs. Interest in the dynamics of nonaxisymmetric shocks has led to the development of polyimide tubes with noncircular cross sections. For our latest Thomson scattering target, shielding was a very important component to the target design. We employed techniques to bend gold foils, enabling complex geometries without any of the seams inherent when two separate foils are pieced together. Machined acrylic bases are used to support all the components on our targets, contributing further to their repeatability and providing us with a method that eases our build. Here, we present improvements in our techniques, along with our basic tried-and-true methods of producing repeatable targets.