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Second round of Launch Pad selections includes eight newcomers
The National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory has announced 13 project selections across 12 companies for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, a Department of Energy–led program that integrates reactor and fuel facility authorization, testing, and deployment support for private nuclear developers.
The Launch Pad emerged from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program.
According to INL, projects selected include reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements, including fabrication, enrichment, and conversion technologies.
Kimberly A. DeFriend Obrey, Robert D. Day, Doug Hatch, Brent F. Espinoza, Shihai Feng, Brian M. Patterson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 55 | Number 4 | May 2009 | Pages 490-498
Technical Paper | Eighteenth Target Fabrication Specialists' Meeting | doi.org/10.13182/FST55-4-490
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Aerogel is a material used in numerous components for inertial confinement fusion and high-energy density physics targets. In the past, these components were molded into the proper shapes. Artifacts left in the parts from the molding process, contour irregularities from shrinkage, and density gradients caused by the skin have caused Los Alamos National Laboratory to pursue machining as a way to make the components. The machining of aerogel is an involved process, and many manufacturing aspects need to be considered including holding the material for machining, achieving the desired surface roughness and the desired dimensional accuracy, conceivably producing a part with enhanced dimensional tolerance and minimal density variations. Therefore, an effort has been established to develop a method to more accurately determine density errors, perform machining experiments, acquire physical property data, and model the machining process.