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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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Remembering ANS member Gil Brown
Brown
The nuclear community is mourning the loss of Gilbert Brown, who passed away on July 11 at the age of 77 following a battle with cancer.
Brown, an American Nuclear Society Fellow and an ANS member for nearly 50 years, joined the faculty at Lowell Technological Institute—now the University of Massachusetts–Lowell—in 1973 and remained there for the rest of his career. He eventually became director of the UMass Lowell nuclear engineering program. After his retirement, he remained an emeritus professor at the university.
Sukesh Aghara, chair of the Nuclear Engineering Department Heads Organization, noted in an email to NEDHO members and others that “Gil was a relentless advocate for nuclear energy and a deeply respected member of our professional community. He was also a kind and generous friend—and one of the reasons I ended up at UMass Lowell. He served the university with great dedication. . . . Within NEDHO, Gil was a steady presence and served for many years as our treasurer. His contributions to nuclear engineering education and to this community will be dearly missed.”
M. E. Abdel-Kader
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 81 | Number 6 | August 2025 | Pages 554-569
Regular Review Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2454128
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this paper, the modeling of linear plasma propulsion (LPP) using the snowplow model is presented to investigate the effect of anode length variation and atomic number of gases on plasma dynamics. The model employs four phases—axial, radial angular, reflected, and expansion—to describe both the dynamics and the propelled plasma in the LPP device. When the plasma in the LPP device is compressed and pinched, it is pushed through the extension tube that is attached to the discharge chamber. The anode length of the LPP device was varied in 2-cm increments, starting from 2 cm up to 18 cm, during the modeling process. To validate the agreement between the simulated and the experimental results, a comparison was performed using the discharge current signals. The results, as recorded in the paper, show that the propelled plasma length is not affected by variations in anode length or the atomic number of gases, while its velocity increases. However, the propelled plasma velocity decreases with the use of gases with higher atomic numbers, which also results in increased pinching time and phase time.