The National Ignition Facility and Industry

The mission of the National Ignition Facility is to achieve ignition and gain in inertial confinement fusion targets in the laboratory. The facility will be used for defense applications such as weapons physics and weapons effects testing, and for civilian applications such as fusion energy development and fundamental studies of matter at high temperatures and densities. The National Ignition Facility construction project will require the best of our construction industries and its success will depend on the best products offered by hundreds of the nation's high technology companies. Three-fourths of the construction costs will be invested in industry. This article reviews the design, cost and schedule, and required industrial involvement associated with the construction project.     

National Ignition Facility and managing location,component, and state

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a stadium-sized facility that contains a 192-beam, 1.8-MJ, 500-TW, ultraviolet laser system coupled with a 10-m diameter target chamber. There are over 6200 Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) comprised of more than 104,000 serialized parts that make up the NIF. Each LRU is a modular unit typically composed of a mechanical housing, laser optics (glass, lenses, or mirrors), and utilities. To date, there are more than 120,000 data sets created to characterize the attributes of these parts. Greater than 51,000 Work Permits have been issued to install, maintain, and troubleshoot the components. One integrated system is used to manage these data, and more. The Location Component and State (LoCoS) system is a web application built using Java Enterprise Edition technologies and is accessed by over 1200 users. It is either directly or indirectly involved with each aspect of NIF work activity, and interfaces with ten external systems including the Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS) and the Laser Performance Operations Model (LPOM). Besides providing business functionality, LoCoS also acts as the NIF enterprise service bus. In this role, numerous integration approaches had to be adopted including: file exchange, database sharing, queuing, and web services in order to accommodate various business, technical, and security requirements. Architecture and implementation decisions are discussed.     

2011 Status of the automatic alignment system for the National Ignition Facility

Automated alignment for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is accomplished using a large-scale parallel control system that directs 192 laser beams along the 300 m optical path. The beams are then focused down to a 50 μ spot in the middle of the target chamber. The entire process is completed in less than 50 min. The alignment system commands 9000 stepping motors for extremely precise adjustment of mirrors and other optics. 41 control loops per beamline perform parallel processing services running on a LINUX cluster to analyze high-resolution images of the beams and their references. This paper describes the status the NIF automatic alignment system and the challenges encountered as NIF development has transitioned from building the laser, to becoming a research project supporting a 24 h, 7 days/week laser facility. NIF is now a continuously operated system where performance monitoring is increasingly more critical for operation, maintenance, and commissioning tasks. Equipment wear and the effects of high energy neutrons from fusion experiments are issues which affect alignment efficiency and accuracy. New sensors needing automatic alignment assistance are common. System modifications to improve efficiency and accuracy are prevalent. Handling these evolving alignment and maintenance needs while minimizing the impact on NIF experiment schedule is expected to be an on-going challenge for the planned 30 year operational life of NIF.     

Visualization of target inspection data at the National Ignition Facility

As the National Ignition Facility continues its campaign to achieve ignition, new methods and tools will be required to measure the quality of the target capsules used to achieve this goal. Techniques have been developed to measure capsule surface features using a phase-shifting diffraction interferometer and Leica Microsystems confocal microscope. These instruments produce multi-gigabyte datasets which consist of tens to hundreds of files. Existing software can handle viewing a small subset of an entire dataset, but none can view a dataset in its entirety. Additionally, without an established mode of transport that keeps the target capsules properly aligned throughout the assembly process, a means of aligning the two dataset coordinate systems is needed. The goal of this project is to develop web based software utilizing WebGL which will provide high level overview visualization of an entire dataset, with the capability to retrieve finer details on demand, in addition to facilitating alignment of multiple datasets with one another based on common features that have been visually identified by users of the system.     

Experiment archive,analysis, and visualization at the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is the world's most energetic laser, providing a scientific research center to study inertial confinement fusion and matter at extreme energy densities and pressures. A target shot involves over 30 specialized diagnostics measuring critical x-ray, optical and nuclear phenomena to quantify ignition results for comparison with computational models. The Shot Analysis and Visualization System (SAVI) acquires and analyzes target diagnostic data for display within a time-budget of 30 min. Laser and target diagnostic data are automatically loaded into the NIF archive database through clustered software data collection agents. The SAVI Analysis Engine distributes signal and image processing tasks to a Linux cluster where computation is performed. Intermediate results are archived at each step of the analysis pipeline. Data is archived with metadata and pedigree. Experiment results are visualized through a web-based user interface in interactive dashboards tailored to single or multiple shot perspectives. The SAVI system integrates open-source software, commercial workflow tools, relational database and messaging technologies into a service-oriented and distributed software architecture that is highly parallel, scalable, and flexible. The architecture and functionality of the SAVI system will be presented along with examples.     

Overview of the Preliminary Safety Analysis of the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a proposed U.S. Department of Energy inertial confinement laser fusion facility. The candidate sites for locating the NIF are: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory, New Mexico, the Nevada Test Site, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), the preferred site. The NIF will operate by focusing 192 individual laser beams onto a tiny deuterium-tritium target located at the center of a spherical target chamber. The NIF has been classified as a low hazard, radiological facility on the basis of a preliminary hazards analysis and according to the DOE methodology for facility classification. This requires that a safety analysis report be prepared under DOE Order 5481.1B, Safety Analysis and Review System. A Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) has been approved, which documents and evaluates the safety issues associated with the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the NIF.     

Correcting raw diagnostic data for oscilloscope recording system distortions at the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is now producing experimental results for the study of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). These results are captured by complex diagnostic systems and are key to achieving NIF's goal to demonstrate thermonuclear burn of deuterium and tritium fuel in a laboratory setting. High bandwidth gamma-ray fusion-burn measurements and soft X-ray indirect and direct drive energetic measurements are both captured with oscilloscope recording systems that distort or modulate the raw data. The Shot Data Analysis team has developed signal processing corrections for these oscilloscope recording systems through an automated engine. Once these corrections are applied, accurate fundamental quantities can be discerned.     

美国国家点火装置中低温定位器产生的背景中子通量密度的计算

W.C.Mead等人[1]对美国国家点火装置(NIF)内的氘氚燃料反应产生的信号中子与低温定位器(CTP)、靶室壁反应产生的背景中子和背景光子的通量密度进行了计算。论文对同一系统进行再次研究,得到与W.C.Mead不同的结论。论文对W.C.Mead等人的研究进行勘误和拓展,使用MCNP对NIF中CTP和靶室壁对背景中子和背景光子的产生情况进行了计算和分析。通过计算在靶室内不同半径不同角度上的背景中子通量密度,确定了在靶室内最佳信噪比的角度,同时对探测器布置在靶室内的位置提出了建议。并且在W.C.Mead等人的研究基础上,改变CTP在靶室中的位置,计算并对比了CTP在靶室内不同位置上,所产生的背景中子和背景光子通量密度。     

Software solutions manage the definition,operation, maintenance and configuration control of the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world's largest laser composed of millions of individual parts brought together to form one massive assembly. Maintaining control of the physical definition, status and configuration of this structure is a monumental undertaking yet critical to the validity of experimental data and the safe operation of the facility. A major programmatic challenge is to deploy software solutions to effectively manage the definition, build, operation, and maintenance, and configuration control of all components of NIF. The strategy for meeting this challenge involves deploying and integrating an enterprise application suite of solutions consisting of both Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products and custom developed software.This paper describes how this strategy has been implemented along with a discussion on the successes realized and the ongoing challenges associated with this approach.     

The Potential of Fast Ignition and Related Experiments with a Petawatt Laser Facility

A model of energy gain induced by fast ignition of thermonuclear burn in compressed deuterium-tritium fuel, is used to show the potential for 300× gain with a driver energy of 1 MJ, if the National Ignition Facility (NIF) were to be adapted for fast ignition. The physics of fast ignition has been studied using a petawatt laser facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Laser plasma interaction in a preformed plasma on a solid target leads to relativistic self-focusing evidenced by x-ray images. Absorption of the laser radiation transfers energy to an intense source of relativistic electrons. Good conversion efficiency into a wide angular distribution is reported. Heating by the electrons in solid density CD₂ produces 0.5 to 1 keV temperature, inferred from the D-D thermo-nuclear neutron yield.     

Performance demonstration for an automated ultrasonic testing system for piping welds

This paper addresses the implementation of an automated ultrasonic testing (AUT) system qualification by performance demonstration (PD) as imposed by the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section XI. To improve the reliability of the ultrasonic testing results for nuclear power plant (NPP) components, almost all engineering codes related to NPP inspection require the ultrasonic inspection systems to be qualified by passing a PD examination. In this study, an AUT system developed to inspect pipe welding parts in NPPs is introduced. To acquire a Korean Performance Demonstration (KPD) qualification, the developed system had a KPD. System obtained the qualification for flaw detection, length, and depth sizing from KPD.     

RETRACTED: Reproducibility study of (TLD-100) dosimeters using an automated and manual TLD reader for radiotherapy applications

The precision of the response of Harshow thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD-100) is investigated for two Harshow TLD readers. The mean reproducibility for chips pre-readout annealed at 100 °C for 15 min, evaluated with the manual planchet reader 4500, is 0.61% (1 standard deviation) using pre-readout method. When chips are evaluated with the automated hot-gas reader 4500, reproducibility values are undoubtedly worse, mean reproducibility for numerically stabilized dosimeters being equal to 2.12%(1 standard deviation) using pre-readout method also. The pre-readout method was used for elimination of lower temperature peaks in order to obtain more stability. These results indicate that the automated hot-gas 4500 reader, or, at least, the instrument used for the present measurements, is not adequate for chips evaluation, if precise and accurate dosimetry is required. The difference in precision for manual planchet reader is apparently due to geometry inconsistencies in the orientation of the planchet to imperfect chips faces during readout, requiring careful and manual reproducible arrangement of the selected chips faces in contact with the manual reader planchet. In order to elucidate this point, the planchet support face of all chips dosimeters was identified with a small point made by pencil, reducing in this way geometrical variations.     

Crush testing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Abstract

The dynamic crush test is required in the certification testing of some small type B transportation packages. International Atomic Energy Agency regulations state that the test article must be ‘subjected to a dynamic crush test by positioning the specimen on the target so as to suffer maximum damage’. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Transportation Technologies Group performs testing of type B transportation packages, including the crush test, at the National Transportation Research Center in Knoxville, TN, USA. This paper documents ORNL’s experiences performing crush tests on several different type B packages.     

核设施退役废物管理

强调了核设施退役中产生的放射性废物的良好管理在实现退役总目标方面的重要性,总结了退役废物管理方面的特点,提出我国核设施退役废物管理方面存在的主要问题.     

CICC Joint Development and Test for the Test Facility

The superconducting joint of the NbTi Cable-in -conduit Conductor (CICC) has been developed and tested on the magnet test facility at Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The CICC is composed of (2NbTi+lCu)x3x3x(6+ltube) strands each with 0.85 mm in diameter, which has been developed for a central solenoid model coil. The effective length of the joint is about 500 mm. There have been two common fabrication modes, one of them is to integrate the 2 CICC terminals with the copper substrate via lead-soldering, and the other is to mechanically compress the above two parts into an integrated unit. In the current range from 2 kA to 10 kA the joint resistance changes slightly. Up to now, 11 TF magnets, a central solenoid model coil, a central solenoid prototype coil, and a large PF model coil of PF large coil have been completed via the latter joint in the test facility.     

High Flux FRC Facility for Stability and Confinement Studies

To provide a path for advancing the FRC concept into a more fusion-like regime, the existing TCSU facility will be modified to take advantage of the new FRC formation method of dynamic formation and merging of FRCs. Results from recent experiments have shown that this methodology provides appreciable increases in the key parameters of ion temperature, poloidal flux and FRC lifetime. FRC stability has been found in numerical calculations where a subpopulation of high energy particles is present in sufficient numbers. A critical goal of the high flux FRC facility will be to form FRCs with poloidal fluxes sufficiently large to fully confine high energy ion orbits introduced from neutralized ion beams injected during FRC formation. A key aspect of the experiments will be to validate theoretical models and simulation codes, such as the 3D extended-MHD code NIMROD, in a in a high beta regime with large two-fluid effects, plasma flows, and an energetic minority species.     

A Heavy Ion Facility for Radiation Therapy

The accelerator requirements of particle radiation therapy are reviewed and a preliminary design of a heavy ion synchrotron for hospital installation is presented. Beam delivery systems and multi-treatment room arrangements are outlined.     

快点火靶金锥制备工艺

锥壳靶是惯性约束聚变快点火实验研究中的一种重要靶型。本工作采用精密车床加工与电镀技术制备锥壳靶用不同角度的金锥。主要介绍金锥电镀金层的制备工艺,讨论了电镀液配方、pH值、镀前处理、尖端效应等对金锥金层质量的影响。     

Usefulness of Single-Crystal Bismuth and Silicon for Neutron Radiography Facility

The atom ratios of Pu/U, ¹³⁴CS/¹³⁷CS and ¹⁵⁴Eu/¹³⁷CS of all the spent fuel assemblies in the full-core of JPDR-1 were calculated. These results were examined through comparison with the values measured by nondestructive γ-ray spectrometry. There were some differences between the calculated and the measured atom ratios of Pu/U and burnup. The calculated atom ratios of ¹³⁴CS/¹³⁷CS and ¹⁵⁴Eu/¹³⁷Cs were slightly less than the measured values for almost all the fuel assemblies. The most probable production amount of Pu, estimated on the basis of the calculated and the measured atom ratios and their accuracies, agreed well with the amount recovered from the reprocessed fuel assemblies.