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Division Spotlight
Education, Training & Workforce Development
The Education, Training & Workforce Development Division provides communication among the academic, industrial, and governmental communities through the exchange of views and information on matters related to education, training and workforce development in nuclear and radiological science, engineering, and technology. Industry leaders, education and training professionals, and interested students work together through Society-sponsored meetings and publications, to enrich their professional development, to educate the general public, and to advance nuclear and radiological science and engineering.
Meeting Spotlight
2024 ANS Annual Conference
June 16–19, 2024
Las Vegas, NV|Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
Proving DRACO will deliver
The United States is now closer than it has been in over five decades to launching the first nuclear thermal rocket into space, thanks to DRACO—the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Orbit.
Sandy Quan, Neil B. Morley, Mohamed A. Abdou
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 697-701
Chamber Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963320
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
One definition for the “damage limit” of a liquid metal surface used as a final optic for laser fusion power plants is the maximum energy flux that the liquid metal can withstand without any resulting spallation. Some preliminary calculations were performed by Moir to roughly estimate the damage limit by imposing the restriction of a 200°C surface temperature rise. Here, new 1D calculations that account for hydro-motion on the compressible time scales are presented, along with revised estimates of the damage limits for liquid aluminum, sodium, and mercury. Slow compression time scales (~20 ns) produced negative pressures in the liquid film on the order of MPa, and fast ignition time scales (~10 ps) yielded GPa pressures for the laser energy densities set out by Moir. For Na and Al the peak energy densities normal to the beam on the order of 5 to 10 J/cm2 were acceptable for fast ignition when 85° grazing incidence is assumed. Some experimental data on the generation and damping of surface waves resulting from surface ablation recoil is also presented, where large waves are seen to damp out after about 50 ms following the laser pulse.