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Soft X-ray spectra (30–70 Å) of aluminum plasma have been measured in experiments carried out at the Kanal-2 laser facility at laser intensities of (1–7) × 10{sup 13} W/cm{sup 2}. It is shown that the measured spectra satisfactory agree with those calculated using the RADIAN numerical code.
The alpha-particle energy deposition mechanism modifies the ignition conditions of the thermonuclear Deuterium-Tritium fusion reactions, and constitutes a key issue in achieving high gain in Inertial Confinement Fusion implosions. One-dimensional hydrodynamic calculations have been performed with the code Multi-IFE to simulate the implosion of a capsule directly irradiated by a laser beam. The diffusion approximation for the alpha energy deposition has been used to optimize three laser profiles corresponding to different implosion velocities. A Monte-Carlo package has been included in Multi-IFE to calculate the alpha energy transport, and in this case the energy deposition uses both the LP and the BPS stopping power models. Homothetic transformations that maintain a constant implosion velocity have been used to map out the transition region between marginally-igniting and high-gain configurations. Furthermore, the results provided by the two models have been compared and it is found that – close to the ignition threshold – in order to produce the same fusion energy, the calculations performed with the BPS model require about 10% more invested energy with respect to the LP model.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser is the culmination of more than 40 years of work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory dedicated to the delivery of laser systems capable of driving experiments for the study of high-energy-density physics. Although NIF was designed to support a number of missions, it was clear from the beginning that its biggest challenge was to meet the requirements for pursuit of inertial confinement fusion. Meeting the Project Completion Criteria for NIF in 2009 and for the National Ignition Campaign (NIC) in 2012 included meeting the NIF Functional Requirements and Primary Criteria that were established for the project in 1994. Finally, during NIC and as NIF transitioned to a user facility, its goals were expanded to include requirements defined by the broader user community as well as by laser system designers and operators.
A \Staged Z-Pinch is a fusion-energy concept in which stored-electric energy is first converted into plasma-liner-kinetic energy, and then transferred to a coaxialtarget plasma [H. U. Rahman, F. J. Wessel, and N. Rostoker, Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, p. 714(1996)]. Proper choice of the liner and target materials, and their initial radii and mass densities, leads to dynamic stabilization, current amplification, and shock heating of the target. Simulations suggest that this configuration has merit as a alternative inertial-confinement-fusion concept, and may provide an energy release exceeding thermonuclear break-even, if tested on one of many newer pulsed power systems, for example those located at Sandia National Laboratories.
The Rayleigh-Taylor instability causes mixing in plasmas throughout the universe, from micron-scale plasmas in inertial confinement fusion implosions to parsec-scale supernova remnants. The evolution of this interchange instability in a plasma is influenced by the presence of viscosity and magnetic fields, both of which have the potential to stabilize short-wavelength modes. Very few experimental observations of Rayleigh-Taylor growth in plasmas with stabilizing mechanisms are reported in the literature, and those that are reported are in sub-millimeter scale plasmas that are difficult to diagnose. Experimental observations in well-characterized plasmas are important for validation of computational models used to make design predictions for inertial confinement fusion efforts. This dissertation presents observations of instability growth during the interaction between a high Mach-number, initially un-magnetized plasma jet and a stagnated, magnetized plasma. A multi-frame fast camera captures Rayleigh-Taylor-instability growth while interferometry, spectroscopy, photodiode, and magnetic probe diagnostics are employed to estimate plasma parameters in the vicinity of the collision. As the instability grows, an evolution to longer mode wavelength is observed. Comparisons of experimental data with idealized magnetohydrodynamic simulations including a physical viscosity model suggest that the observed instability evolution is consistent with both magnetic and viscous stabilization. These data provide the opportunity to benchmark computational models used in astrophysics and fusion research.
Future fusion power plants based on the deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel cycle will be required to breed the T fuel via neutron reactions with lithium, which will be incorporated in a breeding blanket that surrounds the fusion source. Recent work by LLNL proposed the used of liquid Li as the breeder in an inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant. Subsequently, an LDRD was initiated to develop alternatives ternary alloy liquid metal breeders that have reduced chemical reactivity with water and air compared to pure Li. Part of the work plan was to experimentally investigate the phase diagrams of ternary alloys. Of particular interest was measurement of the melt temperature, which must be low enough to be compatible with the temperature limits of the steel used in the construction of the chamber and heat transfer system.
The goal of developing a new source of electric power based on fusion has been pursued for decades. If successful, future fusion power plants will help meet growing world-wide demand for electric power. A key feature and selling point for fusion is that its fuel supply is widely distributed globally and virtually inexhaustible. Current world-wide research on fusion energy is focused on the deuterium-tritium (DT for short) fusion reaction since it will be the easiest to achieve in terms of the conditions (e.g., temperature, density and confinement time of the DT fuel) required to produce net energy. Over the past decades countless studies have examined various concepts for TBBs for both magnetic fusion energy (MFE) and inertial fusion energy (IFE). At this time, the key organizations involved are government sponsored research organizations world-wide. The near-term focus of the MFE community is on the development of TBB mock-ups to be tested on the ITER tokamak currently under construction in Caderache France. TBB concepts for IFE tend to be different from MFE primarily due to significantly different operating conditions and constraints. This report focuses on longer-term commercial power plants where the key stakeholders include: electric utilities, plant owner and operator, manufacturer, regulators, utility customers, and in-plant subsystems including the heat transfer and conversion systems, fuel processing system, plant safety systems, and the monitoring control systems.
Understanding the magnetic fields that can develop in high-power-laser interactions with solid-density plasma is important because such fields significantly modify both the magnitude and direction of electron heat fluxes. The dynamics of such fields evidently have consequences for inertial fusion energy applications, as the coupling of the laser beams with the walls or pellet and the development of temperature inhomogeneities are critical to the uniformity of the implosion and potentially the success of, for example, the National Ignition Facility. To study these effects, we used the code Impacta, a two-dimensional, fully implicit, Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code with self-consistent magnetic fields and a hydrodynamic ion model, designed for nanosecond time-scale laser-plasma interactions. Heat-flux effects in Ohm’s law under non-local conditions was investigated; physics that is not well captured by standard numerical models but is nevertheless important in fusion-related scenarios. Under such conditions there are numerous interesting physical effects, such as collisional magnetic instabilities, amplification of magnetic fields, re-emergence of non-locality through magnetic convection, and reconnection of magnetic field lines and redistribution of thermal energy. In this project highlights included the first full-scale kinetic simulations of a magnetized hohlraum and the discovery of a new magnetic reconnection mechanism, as well as a completed PhD thesis and the production of a new code for Inertial Fusion research.
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The goal of the project is to develop a platform for the OMEGA-60 laser facility to study MHD effects in cylindrical implosions at regimes of large magnetic pressure and magnetization.
A summary of data and results from the first neutron images produced by the National Ignition Facility (NIF), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA are presented. An overview of the neutron imaging technique is presented, as well as a synopsis of the data collected and measurements made to date. Data form directly driven, DT filled microballoons, as well as, indirectly driven, cryogenically layered ignition experiments are presented. The data presented show that the primary cores from directly driven implosions are approximately twice as large, 64 +/- 3 um, as indirect cores (25 +/- 4 and 29 +/- 4 um and more asymmetric, P2/P0 = 47% vs. -14% and -7%. Further, comparison with the size and shape of X-ray image data from on the same implosions show good agreement, indicating X-ray emission is dominated by the hot regions of the implosion. This work was performed for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration and by the National Ignition Campaign partners; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), University of Rochester -Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE), General Atomics(GA), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratory (SNL). Other contributors include Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), England, and Commissariat `a l’ ´ Energie Atomique (CEA), France.
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This case study describes a unique vocational program at Lancaster County Career Technology Center in Mount Joy, PA, where high school students are gaining hands-on construction experience in building high performance homes with help from Building America team, Home Innovation Research Labs. This collaboration resulted in the Green Home 3, the third in a series of high performance homes for Apprentice Green. As one of LCCTC’s key educational strategies for gaining practical experience, students are involved in building real houses that incorporate state-of-the-art energy efficiency and green technologies. With two homes already completed, the Green Home 3 achieved a 44% whole-house energy savings over the Building America New Construction B10 Benchmark, DOE Zero Energy Ready Home (formerly Challenge Home) certification, and National Green Building Standard Gold-level certification.