Method for nondestructive fuel assay of laser fusion targets
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Energy Research and Development Administration
InventorsEugene H. Farnum, R. Jay Fries
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Abstract
A method for nondestructively determining the deuterium and tritium content of laser fusion targets by counting the x rays produced by the interaction of tritium beta particles with the walls of the microballoons used to contain the deuterium and tritium gas mixture under high pressure. The x rays provide a direct measure of the tritium content and a means for calculating the deuterium content using the initial known D-T ratio and the known deuterium and tritium diffusion rates.
Claims4
A method of nondestructively determining the deuterium and tritium contents of laser fusion target microballoons which comprises (a) counting the x rays produced by the interaction of tritium beta particles with the walls of said microballoons, (b) comparing the number of counts for a designated period of time with a calibration curve of counts for various tritium contents for the same designated time period to obtain the tritium content, and (c) calculating the deuterium content utilizing the known initial D-T ratio and the known diffusion rates for D and T.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.