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Hayes, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Hayes, S..

4 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Observations and properties of the first laboratory fusion experiment to exceed a target gain of unity

An indirect-drive inertial fusion experiment on the National Ignition Facility was driven using 2.05 MJ of laser light at a wavelength of 351 nm and produced 3.1±0.16 MJ of total fusion yield, producing a target gain G=1.5±0.1 exceeding unity for the first time in a laboratory experiment [Phys. Rev. E 109, 025204 (2024)]. Herein we describe the experimental evidence for the increased drive on the capsule using additional laser energy and control over known degradation mechanisms, which are critical to achieving high performance. Further, improved fuel compression relative to previous megajoule-yield experiments is observed. Novel signatures of the ignition and burn propagation to high yield can now be studied in the laboratory for the first time.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Future Nuclear Energy Factual Status Document: Resource Document for the Workshop on Basic Research Needs for Future Nuclear Energy, July 2017

Since commercialization in the mid-1950s, nuclear power has been widely deployed and provides an important clean source of energy, primarily through the generation of electricity. There are currently 449 commercial nuclear power reactors operating in 31 countries with over 390 GWe total capacity, with 99 operating units in the United States with a total generating capacity of about 100 GWe. Nuclear power plants provide over 11% of the world’s electricity production and, as of 2016, thirteen countries rely on nuclear energy to supply at least one-quarter of their total electricity. Virtually all of that power is generated with water-cooled reactor systems. A number of advanced nuclear energy system concepts have been developed to provide improved efficiency, greater fissile fuel utilization, reduced high level waste generation, and increased margins of safety over today’s water-cooled systems. However, there are a number of technical challenges that must be addressed to enable the broad deployment of these systems from concept to the electrical grid. This Technical Document is written to provide workshop participants with an overview of the current status of a number of advanced reactor systems: Key issues for advanced nuclear energy, including coolants, materials in extremes (irradiation, coolant, and/or high temperature) and interfaces; Nuclear fuel technologies for key reactor types and limitations in testing and design; State of science and understanding for nuclear systems, including characterization, testing, and modeling and simulation tools. For each of these technical areas, this document describes the technological challenge, current state of the art for the technology, and barriers to advanced nuclear concepts.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2016

VCTR: A Versatile Coupled Test Reactor Concept

The United States has currently no domestic fast neutron test and irradiation capabilities necessary to pursue a strong research and development program related to fast neutron reactors. This lack prevents the testing of fast reactor fuels in a prototypic environment, the testing of new safety features and of new coolants. A new irradiation test reactor is a costly investment that will operate for several decades and the initial specifications are crucial to ensure the relevance of such a facility in the long run. This new test reactor should be highly reconfigurable and allow operation as a fast test reactor or a thermal test reactor or a cou-pled fast-thermal test reactor. This report presents the on-going effort at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to design a versatile coupled test reactor (VCTR—pronounced Victor) that could fulfill the R&D needs requiring high fast neutron fluxes but also high thermal neutron fluxes in configurations that could not be met in current thermal neutron test reactors such as ATR. The objective of this report is to summarize the efforts undertaken at INL from May 2015 to March 2016 aimed at understanding the main options for designing and building a versatile test reactor, with a primary mission to provide thermal and fast neutrons for irradiation of fuels and materials in a manner complementary to the ATR and HFIR reactors. Other missions can also be considered, including the validation of computer codes and the development of specific reactor technologies.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗