An overview of the Atlas pulsed-power systems

Conference · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:555585

Parsons, W M; Baldwin, C; Ballard, E ^[1]

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1. and others

Atlas is a facility being designed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to perform high energy-density experiments in support of weapon-physics and basic-research programs. It is designed to be an international user facility, providing experimental opportunities to researchers from national laboratories and academic institutions. For hydrodynamic experiments, it will be capable of achieving pressures exceeding 20-Mbar in a several cm{sup 3} volume. With the development of a suitable opening switch, it will also be capable of producing soft x-rays. The 36-MJ capacitor bank will consist of 240-kV Marx modules arranged around a central target chamber. The Marx modules will be discharged through vertical triplate transmission lines to a parallel plate collector inside the target chamber. The capacitor bank is designed to deliver a peak current of 45 to 50 MA with a 4- to 5-{micro}s risetime. The Marx modules are designed to be reconfigured to a 480-kV configuration for opening switch development. Predicted performance with a typical load is presented. Descriptions of the major subsystems are also presented.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 555585
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--97-3651; CONF-9706113--; ON: DE98001467
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

25 ENERGY STORAGE
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
CAPACITIVE ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
CONTROL SYSTEMS
DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
HYDRODYNAMICS
LABORATORIES
MARX GENERATORS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
POWER SYSTEMS
POWER TRANSMISSION LINES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
USES
X-RAY SOURCES