Currently, direct fuel rho r measurements on Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) targets by neutron activation of the argon tracer gas mixed with the DT fuel would require a 100 fold increase in neutron yield. Bromine, on the other hand, has excellent properties for neutron activation analysis at neutron yields of 10two' to 10/sup 8/, when present at an internal pressure of from 0.1 to 0.2 atmospheres. Bromine addition is accomplished in a 2 furnace system using the dried-gel method of microsphere production. An upper furnace operated at 1500/sup 0/C is separated from a lower furnace by a cooled zone. The lower furnace is filled with bromine gas and operated at approximately 1250/sup 0/C. The upper furnace is the glass production furnace. The cooled zone in between the upper and lower furnace is to prevent the hot bromine gas from rising into the upper furnace. The microspheres pass through the cooled zone and immediately into the 1250/sup 0/C bromine furnace where the bromine permeates into the spheres.

The High Field Test Facility (HFTF), presently under construction at LLNL, is a set of superconducting coils that will be used to test 1-m-o.d. coils of prototype conductors for fusion magnets in fields up to 12 T. The facility consists of two concentric sets of coils; the outer set is a stack of Nb-Ti solenoids, and the inner set is a pair of solenoids made of cryogenically-stabilized, multifilamentary Nb/sub 3/Sn superconductor, developed for use in mirror-fusion magnets. The HFTF system is designed to be parted along the midplane to allow high-field conductors, under development for Tokamak fusion machines, to be inserted and tested. The background field coils were wound pancake-fashion, with cold-welded joints at both the inner and outer diameters. Turn-to-turn insulation was fabricated at LLNL from epoxy-fiberglass strip. The coils were assembled and tested in our 2-m-diam cryostat to verify their operation.

Experimental results on ion-cyclotron waves observed in the 2XIIB mirror machine are reviewed, and relevant theoretical work is discussed. The work reported generally substantiates the quasilinear diffusion model of mirror-plasma confinement, but also suggests alternatives. The end-loss current required by theory of the drift-cyclotron loss-cone (DCLC) instability agrees with measurements of this current. The experiment indicates that an increased ratio of plasma radius to ion gyroradius improves plasma confinement. However, measurements sometimes show a second ion-cyclotron mode, which is not the DCLC mode. Theoretical work on loss-cone instabilities has concentrated on linear, quasilinear, and fully nonlinear models of increased sophistication and experimental applicability.

Results from the new Tandem Mirror Experiment (TMX) are described. Tandem-mirror density and potential profiles are produced using end-plug neutral-beam injection and central-cell gas-fueling. TMX parameters are near those predicted theoretically. The end-plug electron temperature is higher than in the comparably sized single-mirror 2XIIB. Axial confinement of the finite-beta central-cell plasma is improved by the end plugs by as much as a factor of 9. In TMX, end-plug microinstability limits central-cell confinement in agreement with theory.

Experimental and theoretical studies of field reversal in a mirror machine are reported. Plasma-gun experiments demonstrate that reversed-field plasma layers are formed. Low energy plasma flowing behind the initially produced plasma front prevents tearing of the layer from the gun muzzle. MHD simulation shows that tearing can be obtained by impeding the slow plasma flow with a plasma divider. It is demonstrated theoretically that a field-reversed mirror imbedded in a multipole field can be sustained in steady state with neutral-beam injection even in the absence of impurities. MHD stability analysis shows that growth rates of elongated reversed-field theta-pinch configurations decrease with axial extension, which indicates the importance of including finite Larmor radius in the analysis. Tilting-mode criteria are dramatically improved by proper shaping, and a problimak shape is proposed. Tearing mode stability of reversed-field theta-pinches is greatly enhanced by flux exclusion. Self-consistent, 1-1/2-dimensional transport codes have been developed, and initial results are presented.

The connection between the cubic-to-tetragonal martensitic phase transformation and the phenomenon of superconductivity in A15 compounds is being investigated. The degradation of the critical parameters, such as T/sub c/, H/sub c2/, and J/sub c/, with mechanical straining is of particular interest. Low-temperature x-ray diffraction experiments are performed on Nb/sub 3/Sn ribbons (with the bronze layers etched off) mounted on copper and indium sample stages. The cryostat used is unique in that it has a vacuum mechanical insert which allows the superconductor to be placed under both compressive and tensile strains while at low temperatures. Preliminary results indicate that the martensitic phase transition temperature, T/sub m/, increases with compressive strains. Other effects of strain on tetragonal phase production are also discussed.

Methods used to obtain the evaluated prompt fisson neutron spectrum N(E) and the average prompt neutron multiplicity anti ..nu../sub p/ are reviewed. The relative influence of experimental data; interpolated, extrapolated, and fitted experimental data; systematics; and nuclear theory are considered for the cases where (a) abundant experimental data exist, (b) some experimental data exist, and (c) no experimental data exist. The Maxwellian and Watt distributions, and the determination of the parameters of these distributions by data fitting, are described and compared to recent new theoretical work on the calculation of N(E). Similarly, various expressions for anti ..gamma../sub p/ that have been obtained by data fitting and systematics are described and compared to recent new theoretical work. Complications in the evaluation of N(E) and anti ..gamma../sub p/ due to the onset of multiple-chance fission and the interrelationships between N(E), anti ..gamma delta../sub p/ and the multiple-chance fission cross section are discussed using the example of the fission of /sup 235/U. Some statistics and comments are given on the evaluations of N(E) and anti ..gamma../sub p/ contained in ENDF/B-V, and a number of concluding recommendations are made for future evaluation work.

The question of calculating differences in s- and p-wave radiation widths as a valid evaluation tool is explored. A purely statistical approach such as that provided by the Brink-Axel formula depends upon two factors: 1) an adequate description of the giant dipole resonance shape at energies well below the resonance, and 2) an adequate description of the level densities between the ground state and the excitation of the compound nucleus near the neutron separation energy. Some success has been obtained in certain regions of the periodic table with this simple approach, e.g., in the actinides where all nuclei exhibit similar rigid permanent deformations. However, if the method is to be used as a general evaluation procedure throughout the periodic table and particularly in regions where the radiative transition probabilities are enhanced by direct processes, it appears that much more nuclear structure information needs to be incorporated into the calculations.

Several levitation concepts have been evaluated resulting in the electrostatic quadrupole being chosen as the most universal. A levitator has been constructed to handle laser fusion targets during and between the processing steps. The levitator is based on a quadrupole rail which is segmented to provide electrically controlled transport and confinement along the rail. This device has demonstrated transport both vertical and horizontal of targets with appropriate mass to size ratios and exhibits remarkably stable confinement at atmospheric pressure.