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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Fusion Science and Technology
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Deep geologic repository progress—2025 Update
Editor's note: This article has was originally published in November 2023. It has been updated with new information as of June 2025.
Outside my office, there is a display case filled with rock samples from all over the world. It contains a disk of translucent, orange salt from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.; a core of white-and-bronze gneiss from the site of the future deep geologic repository in Eurajoki, Finland; several angular chunks of fine-grained, gray claystone from the underground research laboratory at Bure, France; and a piece of coarse-grained granite from the underground research tunnel in Daejeon, South Korea.
Swanee J. Shin, Leonardus B. Bayu Aji, Alison M. Engwall, John H. Bae, Gregory V. Taylor, Paul B. Mirkarimi, Chantel Aracne-Ruddle, Jack Nguyen, Casey W. N. Kong, Sergei O. Kucheyev
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 79 | Number 7 | October 2023 | Pages 841-852
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2023.2194238
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Boron carbide is an attractive ablator for next-generation inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets. Here we describe several aspects of our ongoing systematic studies of the deposition and processing of B4C coatings for ICF targets. We show that residual compressive stress in films can be reduced and the deposition rate increased by N-doping. We also demonstrate successful Si substrate etching and surface polishing and discuss remaining challenges and offer potential solutions to the buildup of particulates in the deposition chamber during prolonged coating runs, control of nodular growth defects, and lateral nonuniformity of film properties for deposition conditions with relatively low target-to-substrate distances.