To avoid the effects of fluid instabilities, stringent requirements must be imposed on the surface quality and wall thickness uniformity of fuel pellets used in Inertial Confinement Fusion compression experiments. A systematic method was developed for specifying the type of defects which must be avoided and for evaluating measurement techniques for their suitability for detecting these defects. A review is given of the techniques currently available and those under development to show the relationship between these capabilities and the current and future requirements for pellet uniformity. The speed of these techniques and the implications for automated production of fuel pellets for a reactor are discussed.

We evaluated mechanical, thermal, thermodynamic, and chemical properties of Dow Corning DC-S-2000, a silicone rubber filled with silica, that was selected as an O-ring material for SHIVA laser amplifiers. We compared the properties of a batch cured in-house with the manufacturer's specifications, and we developed specific quality-control tests to evaluate future production batches of this elastomer. We also examined mechanical and thermal transitions not described in the manufacturer's bulletin. Because the silicone O-rings must function under prolonged compression, we recommend an examination of the compression properties of DC-S-2000.