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From uncertainty to vitality: The future of nuclear energy in Illinois
Nuclear is enjoying a bit of a resurgence. The momentum for reliable energy to support economic development around the country—specifically data centers and AI—remains strong, and strongly in favor of nuclear. And as feature coverage on the states in the January 2026 issue of Nuclear News made abundantly clear, many states now see nuclear as necessary to support rising electricity demand while maintaining a reliable grid and reaching decarbonization goals.
H. Xu, H. Huang, J. Walker, C. Kong, N. G. Rice, M. P. Mauldin, J. D. Vocke, J. H. Bae, W. Sweet, F. H. Elsner, M. P. Farrell, Y. M. Wang, C. Alford, T. Cardenas, E. Loomis
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 73 | Number 3 | April 2018 | Pages 354-362
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1387459
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Double-shell inertial confinement fusion targets represent a unique platform for achieving ignition. They consist of a low-Z outer ablator, a high-Z inner pusher layer, and a low-density foam layer sandwiched in between. There is the possibility that double-shell targets may achieve ignition at lower ion temperatures due to the containment of radiation and conduction losses as well as requiring smaller convergence ratios. We have explored using magnetron sputtering to make the inner high-Z pusher layers and have demonstrated a W-Cr bilayer inner-shell design. An Al-Be mixture was explored as one of the outer ablator materials. This material takes advantage of Al X-ray M-band absorption to reduce preheating and still retain Be high-ablation speeds. Typical commercial Al-Be materials suffer from phase separation. However, by using magnetron sputtering we have been able to demonstrate homogeneous Al-Be ablator coatings. The sputtered material forms with nanosized grains and has demonstrated excellent machinability. As a second type of shell explored, pushered single shells can exploit large density gradients to stabilize Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities during compression. Sharp gradients will have higher ignition yields and larger grading lengths will be more stable. We were able to demonstrate pushered single shells made from W-Be gradient layers with various grading slopes and provide simulated results showing that the grading profiles can be influenced by the coating rates of two components.