The objective of this presentation is to: (1) present the physical motivation for fusion-fission hybrids, (2) outline design considerations for hybrid blankets, and (3) discuss the nuclear performance potential of hybrid blankets.

An improved dual-laser flow cytometric system for quantitative analysis and sorting of mammalian cells has been developed using a low-power argon and high-power krypton laser as illumination sources, thus permitting the excitation of fluorescent dyes having absorption regions ranging from the ultraviolet to infrared. Cells stained in liquid suspension with fluorescent dyes enter a flow chamber where they intersect two spatially separated laser beams. Separate pairs of quartz beam-shaping optics focus each beam onto the cell stream. Electro-optical sensors measure fluorescence and light scatter from cells that are processed electronically and displayed as frequency distribution histograms. Cells also can be electronically separated and microscopically identified. The ease and versatility of operation designed into this system represent a marked technological improvement for dual-laser excited flow systems. Details of this instrument are described along with illustrative examples of cells stained with mithramycin and rhodamine and analyzed for DNA content, total protein, and nuclear and cytoplasmic diameter.

For optimum performance in cell sorting, it is critical to assure proper timing in the charging of droplets to be deflected. A method for determining the transit delay time in cell sorters has been devised and applied to daily operation in the Los Alamos sorter systems. This delay monitor relies on detection of either scattered or absorbed light from cells in the fluid stream near the point of droplet breakoff.

In designs for high gain targets for laser driven inertial confinement fusion, the deuterium-tritium fuel is at cryogenic temperatures. We are adapting cryogenic target fabrication techniques to the high power Shiva Laser Facility. The complex but compact cryogenic system which meets the Shiva laser requirements is described.

The structural distortion in PrCu/sub 2/ below the Jahn-Teller transition at T/sub D/ = 7.3 K was measured by neutron diffraction. The primary order parameter was found to be the e/sub zx/ strain of the orthorhombic unit cell. The coupling of this strain to the lowest two crystal field levels gave rise to the dominant quadrupole interaction between the Pr/sup +3/ ions. A dipole transition to the second excited crystal field level was also observed. The dispersion of this excitation shows that the exchange interaction is antiferromagnetic, consistent with the enhanced antiferromagnetic nuclear ordering reported below 52 mK.

The sensitivities of district heating costs to various design parameters are explored. Some recent studies evaluating the economics of district heating are briefly summarized. The bases and methods for the cost and design sensitivity studies are outlined. Cost and design relationships are examined. These relationships are developed as part of a design study for a city with a population of 175,000. Use of a specific city as a basis for these studies shows the importance of site specific factors in the development of the best district heating design for the city. The problems of utilizing the delivered water are briefly reviewed. Some alternatives system designs are compared in terms of economics, energy efficiency, and their potential for widespread application. (MHR)

Two approaches to enhancement of the Q (energy gain) factor of mirror systems are under study at Livermore. These include the Tandem Mirror and the Field Reversed Mirror. Both of these new ideas preserve features of conventional mirror systems as far as plasma-wall interactions are concerned. Specifically in both approaches field lines exit from the ends of the system and impinge on walls located at a distance from the confinement chamber. It is possible to predict some aspects of the plasma/surface interactions of TM and FRM systems from experience obtained in the Livermore 2XIIB experiment. In particular, as observed in 2XIIB, effective isolation of the plasma from thermal contact with the ends owing to the development of sheath-like regions is to be expected. Studies presently underway directed toward still further enhancing the decoupling of the plasma from the effects of plasma surface interactions at the walls will be discussed, with particular reference to the problem of minimizing the effects of refluxing secondary electrons produced by plasma impact on the end walls.

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In a general high-beta guiding-center MHD equilibrium of an anisotropic minimum-B mirror-trapped plasma, stability is determined by the sign of the Kruskal-Oberman energy variation. The energy variation is given for near-marginally-stable line-localized perturbations, and within a positive factor. A brief theoretical discussion of various instabilities for different conditions is given. (MOW)