This study investigates the neutronics design aspects of a hybrid fusion-fission energy system called the Laser Fusion-Fission Hybrid (LFFH). A LFFH combines current Laser Inertial Confinement fusion technology with that of advanced fission reactor technology to produce a system that eliminates many of the negative aspects of pure fusion or pure fission systems. When examining the LFFH energy mission, a significant portion of the United States and world energy production could be supplied by LFFH plants. The LFFH engine described utilizes a central fusion chamber surrounded by multiple layers of multiplying and moderating media. These layers, or blankets, include coolant plenums, a beryllium (Be) multiplier layer, a fertile fission blanket and a graphite-pebble reflector. Each layer is separated by perforated oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steel walls. The central fusion chamber is surrounded by an ODS ferritic steel first wall. The first wall is coated with 250-500 {micro}m of tungsten to mitigate x-ray damage. The first wall is cooled by Li{sub 17}Pb{sub 83} eutectic, chosen for its neutron multiplication and good heat transfer properties. The {sub 17}Pb{sub 83} flows in a jacket around the first wall to an extraction plenum. The main coolant injection plenum is immediately behind the Li{sub …

The reentrant cone approach to Fast Ignition, an advanced Inertial Confinement Fusion scheme, remains one of the most attractive because of the potential to efficiently collect and guide the laser light into the cone tip and direct energetic electrons into the high density core of the fuel. However, in the presence of a preformed plasma, the laser energy is largely absorbed before it can reach the cone tip. Full scale fast ignition laser systems are envisioned to have prepulses ranging between 100 mJ to 1 J. A few of the imperative issues facing fast ignition, then, are the conversion efficiency with which the laser light is converted to hot electrons, the subsequent transport characteristics of those electrons, and requirements for maximum allowable prepulse this may put on the laser system. This dissertation examines the laser-to-fast electron conversion efficiency scaling with prepulse for cone-guided fast ignition. Work in developing an extreme ultraviolet imager diagnostic for the temperature measurements of electron-heated targets, as well as the validation of the use of a thin wire for simultaneous determination of electron number density and electron temperature will be discussed.

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The authors present a search for the decay B{sup +} {yields} {ell}{sup +}{nu}{sub {ell}} ({ell} = {tau}, {mu}, or e) in (458.9 {+-} 5.1) x 10{sup 6} {Upsilon}(4S) decays recorded with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II B-Factory. A sample of events with one reconstructed exclusive semi-leptonic B decay (B{sup -} {yields} D{sup 0}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}X) is selected, and in the recoil a search for B{sup +} {yields} {ell}{sup +}{nu}{sub {ell}} signal is performed. The {tau} is identified in the following channels: {tau}{sup +} {yields} e{sup +}{nu}{sub e}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup +} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{nu}{sub {mu}}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}, {tau}{sup +} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}, and {tau}{sup +} {yields} {pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup 0}{bar {nu}}{sub {tau}}. The analysis strategy and the statistical procedure is set up for branching fraction extraction or upper limit determination. They determine from the dataset a preliminary measurement of {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {tau}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (1.8 {+-} 0.8 {+-} 0.1) x 10{sup -4}, which excludes zero at 2.4{sigma}, and f{sub B} = 255 {+-} 58 MeV. Combination with the hadronically tagged measurement yields {Beta}(B{sup +} {yields} {tau}{sup +}{nu}{sub {tau}}) = (1.8 {+-} 0.6) x 10{sup -4}. They also set preliminary limits on the branching fractions at …

We measure the branching fraction of the exclusive charmless semileptonic decay B {yields} {omega}{ell}{nu}{sub {ell}}, where {ell} is either an electron or a muon, with the charged B meson recoiling against a tag B meson decaying in the charmed semileptonic modes B {yields} D{ell}{nu}{sub {ell}} or B {yields} D*{ell}{nu}{sub {nu}}. The measurement is based on a dataset of 426.1 fb{sup -1} of e{sup +}e{sup -} collisions at a CM energy of 10.58 GeV recorded with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric B Factory located at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We also calculate the relevant B {yields} {omega} hadronic form factors to determine the magnitude of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |V{sub ub}|.