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Playing the “bad guy” to enhance next-generation safety
Sometimes, cops and robbers is more than just a kid’s game. At the Department of Energy’s national laboratories, researchers are channeling their inner saboteurs to discover vulnerabilities in next-generation nuclear reactors, making sure that they’re as safe as possible before they’re even constructed.
Forbes R. Powell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 197-201
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A449
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper discusses some recent contributions to the use of polyimide in the fabrication of targets for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) and Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). Polyimide has many desirable properties, including much higher strength and the ability to withstand much higher temperatures than similar polymer films. Recent research efforts have focused on the use of polyimide in a number of applications including gasbag targets, hohlraum windows, spherical target capsules, anti-convection baffles and various shaped membranes such as target capsule supports and cylindrical z-pinch targets where polyimide's advantages contribute to superior target performance. Also covered are the fabrication of thick-wall target capsules and the potential production of thin-wall spherical capsules by a fully automated process.