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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.
J. S. Jaquez, M. O. Havre, A. Nikroo, S. D. Bhandarkar, M. Wang, B. Stahl, K. Kangas, M. P. Farrell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 73 | Number 3 | April 2018 | Pages 370-379
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1387461
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Research at General Atomics and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been focused on evaluating depleted uranium (DU) hohlraum fabrication over the past 10 years to improve the yield, thereby increasing the availability of DU hohlruams required to support the increased shot rate at the National Ignition Facility. The more straightforward gold (Au) hohlraum fabrication involves four basic steps: mandrel fabrication, electroplating, back machining and milling, and leaching. For Au, the overall fabrication yield of this process approaches 98% [H. Streckert and K. Blobaum, Fusion Sci. Technol., Vol. 63, p. 213 (2013)] Depleted uranium lined hohlraum fabrication, however, requires deposition of a multilayer of thin films after the mandrel fabrication step. These thin film deposition processes have historically proven difficult to execute on a complex cylindrical geometry of a hohlraum, resulting in unacceptable stress-driven delamination, with net yields ranging 20% to 35% [H. L. Wilkens et al., Phys. Plasmas, Vol. 14, 056310 (2007)]. Recent hohlraum design and fabrication process changes, as well as material selections implemented between 2014 and 2016, have improved the fabrication yield to over 60%. These changes are discussed here as well as plans for future improvements.