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
Mar 2026
Jan 2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
April 2026
Nuclear Technology
February 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Supporting ANS now, for the future
Hash Hashemianpresident@ans.org
From kindergarten classrooms to national security facilities, each event I attended during the opening weeks of the new year underscored one truth: The future of nuclear energy depends on the people we inspire, educate, and empower today.
I had a busy start to 2026, first speaking at the Nashville Energy and Mining Summit alongside Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association senior vice president Justin Maierhofer to explore the necessary synergies among policy, academic coursework, research, and industry expertise in accelerating American nuclear innovation. Drawing on experiences in high-level government relations and public affairs and decades of work in nuclear instrumentation advancements, we discussed Tennessee’s nuclear renaissance, workforce development, and policy frameworks that support emerging energy demands.
Christophe S. Debonnel, Dale R. Welch, David V. Rose, Simon S. Yu, Per F. Peterson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 43 | Number 3 | May 2003 | Pages 408-413
Technical Paper | Lasers and Heavy-Ion Drivers | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A285
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The effective propagation and focusing of heavy-ion beams in the final-focus magnet region of inertial fusion target chambers require controlling the background gas density and pressure in the beam tubes. Liquid vortexes will coat the inside of the tubes next to the beam ports and will help eliminate the need for mechanical shutters to mitigate the venting of target chamber background gas into the final-focus magnet region. Before the neutralizing region, the beam space charge is high, and ablation and target debris deposition in the final-focus magnet region may cause voltage breakdown. Previous studies focused on evaluating the amount of target chamber debris reaching the entrance of the beam ports. The TSUNAMI code has now been used to assess the density, temperature, and velocity of the vortex debris transported ~3 m up the beam tubes and reaching the final-focus magnet region, assuming that the liquid vortexes are perfectly absorbing surfaces. To further mitigate debris deposition in the final-focus magnet region, and prevent voltage breakdown, a "magnetic shutter" has been envisaged to divert the debris out of the final-focus region. This shutter will prevent the hot ablation debris from reaching the magnet region and, coupled to some ionizing scheme, will conveniently suppress early ingression of debris into the final-focus magnet region.