Date of Award

3-1992

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Engineering Physics

First Advisor

Denis E. Beller, PhD

Abstract

Gamma ray effects testing in Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) planned Nova Upgrade facility is examined. Emphasis is placed on converting neutron energy from inertial confinement fusion in to gamma rays while shielding the test objects from neutrons and debris. Although predicted gamma doses in the Nova Upgrade facility are an order of magnitude less than those produced in some current facilities, dose uniformity, the ratio of minimum to maximum gamma dose is predicted to be greater than 0.75 across a larger, 13, 000 cm2, test bed. Peak gamma dose rates are predicted to be on the order of 1010 Gy/s, similar to the dose rates of current simulators. Surprisingly, the laser ports reduce the gamma dose about 30% and the peak gamma dose rate about 40%, but they increase the average gamma energy about 20 %. The dose and dose rates from the Nova nuclear weapons effects test (NWET) cassette should scale linearly with the yield from future ICF facilities, such as the Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF) planned by the Department of Energy.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GNE-ENP-92M-08

DTIC Accession Number

ADA248106

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted.

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