ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
2026 ANS Annual Conference
May 31–June 3, 2026
Denver, CO|Sheraton Denver
Latest Magazine Issues
Feb 2026
Jul 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
February 2026
Nuclear Technology
January 2026
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
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.
Teruhisa Takamatsu et al.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 4 | May 2005 | Pages 1290-1294
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - Nonelectric Applications | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A867
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A magnetron discharge as a built-in ion source have studied both experimentally and numerically for a compact discharge-type fusion neutron source called IECF (Inertial Electrostatic Confinement Fusion). With this magnetron discharge, ions are produced in the vicinity of the vacuum chamber (anode) at negative electric potential. Therefore, produced ions are expected to have nearly full energy corresponding to the applied voltage to the IECF cathode but slightly smaller energy preventing them from hitting the anode of the opposite end, eventually improving both fusion reaction rate and ion recirculation life. Also, the magnetron ion source was found to produce ample ion current for maintenance of the discharge. With the optimization of the configuration of the magnetron discharge, further improvement of the fusion reaction rate is found feasible.