Overview of recent Pulsed Power advances at Sandia

At the l3th International Conference on High-Power Particle Beams held June 2000 in Nagaoka, Japan, we presented a paper entitled «Pulsed Power: Sandia's plans for the new millennium». In that presentation we described the status of pulsed power at Sandia and our vision for moving forward in an uncertain budgetary environment. The ensuing four years have proven to be very productive and we have advanced on many fronts. The vision described in the Summer of 2000 has matured, recent experimental results have been very encouraging, and significant investments in Sandia's pulsed power facilities promise to continue the rapid progress in applications of pulsed power and in pulsed power technology itself. Some illustrative examples are the first thermonuclear neutrons measured from a Z-pinch driven inertial confinement fusion capsule, the U. S. investment in the refurbishment of the Z facility and strong support for pulsed power technology development, and the inclusion of Z-pinch driven inertial fusion energy concepts into the United States 35-year fusion plan that was recently endorsed by the Department of Energy's Fusion Energy Advisory Committee. In this presentation, we will describe the current status of pulsed power at Sandia and present a summary of recent scientific results and the expectations for the refurbished Z accelerator due to be completed in 2006.