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Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Latest News
Second round of Launch Pad selections includes eight newcomers
The National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory has announced 13 project selections across 12 companies for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, a Department of Energy–led program that integrates reactor and fuel facility authorization, testing, and deployment support for private nuclear developers.
The Launch Pad emerged from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program.
According to INL, projects selected include reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements, including fabrication, enrichment, and conversion technologies.
G. L. Kulcinski, J. F. Santarius, K. Johnson, A. Megahed, R. L. Bonomo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 3 | October 2017 | Pages 455-460
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1333862
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper describes a system to detect landmines or IEDs by the use of small DD or DT neutron sources carried by a drone. The neutron source is powered by beaming RF or laser energy, at a distance of up to a km from the target, to a relay drone high (≈ 100 meters) above the neutron drone that converts the RF energy to electricity. The relay drone uses the electricity to generate another set of RF waves, and sends the energy down to the neutron drone to power the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) fusion neutron generator. The neutrons emitted by the IEC generator interrogate the ground below the mobile neutron drone through neutron activation and the orbiting detector drones collect the gamma ray signals to determine the composition and location of the objects below. When the N/C/O signal is close to known chemical explosives signatures, the object is tagged for further investigation.