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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.
A. Nikroo, W. Baugh, D. A. Steinman
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 2 | March 2004 | Pages 202-205
Technical Paper | Target Fabrication | doi.org/10.13182/FST45-202
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Deuterium (D2) filled glass shells coated with a high Z element are needed for high energy density (HED) experiments by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory. We report here on our initial attempt to produce such shells. Glass shells made using the drop tower technique were coated with gold, palladium or tungsten, or a mixture of two of these elements. It was found that gold and palladium coatings did not stick well to the glass and resulted in poor or delaminated films. Tungsten coatings resulted in films suitable for these targets. Bouncing of shells during coating resulted in uniform tungsten coatings, but the surface of such coatings were filled with small nodules. Proper agitation of shells using a tapping technique resulted in smooth films with minimal particulate contamination. For coating rates of ~0.15 m/hr coatings with ~2 nm RMS surface finish could be deposited. The surface roughness of coatings at higher rates, 0.7 m/hr, was considerably worse (~100 nm RMS). The columnar structure of the coatings allowed permeation filling of the tungsten coated glass shells with deuterium at 300°C.