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Commissioning a new neutron imaging system at the National Ignition Facility

ORAL

Abstract

Neutron imaging systems (NIS) fielded at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) capture neutron images of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions driven by the NIF 1.8 MJ laser. From these images, implosion shape information can be extracted to assess fusion fuel performance. The NIS began as a single line of sight (LoS), which captured gated and energy integrated neutron images. Today, the suite consists of three nearly orthogonal LoS's with neutron imaging capabilities. Additionally, two LoS's are also capable of capturing x-ray and gamma ray images which can be used to infer information about the distribution of higher Z material (Z>1) potentially limiting implosion performance. The NIS-3 gamma imaging capability was commissioned in 2020-2021. The NIS-1 gamma imaging capability was added recently as part of a substantial upgrade to the LoS, which included implementing a new aperture as well as new recording systems along this LoS. This talk will cover the commissioning of the NIS-1 upgrade and will show some preliminary 2D and 3D source reconstructions.

Presenters

  • Mora Durocher

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

Authors

  • Mora Durocher

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Noah W Birge

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Christopher R Danly

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Valerie Fatherley

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • David N Fittinghoff

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Matthew Freeman

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Verena Geppert-Kleinrath

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Justin Jorgenson

    Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Petr L Volegov

    Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

  • Carl H Wilde

    Los Alamos National Laboratory