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DTRA’s advancements in nuclear and radiological detection
A new, more complex nuclear age has begun. Echoing the tensions of the Cold War amid rapidly evolving nuclear and radiological threats, preparedness in the modern age is a contest of scientific innovation. The Research and Development Directorate (RD) at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is charged with winning this contest.
H. W. Kugel, H. P. Eubank, T. A. Kozub, M. D. Williams, M. Ulrickson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 9 | Number 3 | May 1986 | Pages 401-407
Technical Paper | Plasma Heating System | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24728
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
During 2 yr of experimental operations, the Poloidal Divertor Experiment (PDX) inner wall neutral beam graphite armor provided protection for perpendicular heating injections into normal and disruptive plasmas as well as injections in the absence of plasma for special experiments, calibrations, and tests involving the optimization and development of the PDX neutral beam injection system. About 80 to 100 heating injections occurred per operating day, at a 360-s duty cycle, into plasmas of various densities, and typically ~5 to 50% of the injected neutral beam power was transmitted to the armor. More than 103 neutral beam pulses of 100- to 300-ms duration were injected in the absence of plasma at peak power densities of 1.5 to 3 kW/cm2, yielding peak surface temperatures of 950 to 1550°C. There was no significant impurity production attributable to beam heating of the armor, and no observed beam-induced, macroscopic surface damage. Many of the design constraints and performance issues encountered in this work are relevant to the design of larger fusion devices.