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 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
Latest Magazine Issues
Aug 2026
Jan 2026
2026
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
October 2026
Nuclear Technology
September 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
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.
Tana Cardenas, Derek W. Schmidt, Eric N. Loomis, Randall B. Randolph, Christopher E. Hamilton, John Oertel, Brian M. Patterson, Kevin Henderson, Doug C. Wilson, Elizabeth Merritt, David Montgomery, William Daughton, Evan Dodd, Sasikumar Palaniyappan, John Kline, Steve Batha, Haibo Huang, Marty L. Hoppe, Michael Schoff, Neal Rice, Abbas Nikroo, Morris Wang, Richard Seugling, Donald Bennett, Steve Johnson, Carlos Castro
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 73 | Number 3 | April 2018 | Pages 344-353
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1406251
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The double-shell platform fielded at the National Ignition Facility requires developments in new machining techniques and robotic assembly stations to meet the experimental specifications. Current double-shell target designs use a dense high-Z inner shell, a foam cushion, and a low-Z outer shell. The design requires that the inner shell be gas filled using a fill tube. This tube impacts the entire machining and assembly design. Other intermediate physics designs have to be fielded to answer physics questions and advance the technology to be able to fabricate the full point design in the near future. One of these intermediate designs is a mid-Z imaging design. The methods of designing, fabricating, and characterizing each of the major components of an imaging double shell are discussed with an emphasis on the fabrication of the machined outer metal shell.