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.
X.M. Chen, V.E. Schrock
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 727-731
Inertial Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29431
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In both earlier and current ICF blanket designs a problem of a free annulus radial expansion emerges after microexplosion. If the annulus fractures, it could increase the total liquid surface area available for condensation by hundreds times. Whether the fragmentation can happen or not depends on the internal pressure and surface stability. In this paper a model based on incompressible cylindrically symmetric flow is used to get a theoretical solution similar to that of the Rayleigh's solution for bubble dynamics. The pressure inside the annulus is found positive at all time but the peak is lowering during the expansion. Besides, both surfaces are Taylor stable during such motion. Thus, it is concluded that an annulus in outward radial motion will not cavitate or breakup.