Skip to content

23 January 2017 | 1 minute read


23 January 2017 | 1 minute read


Latest News

Share this

This is an archived news story which is over 12 months old and may contain out of date information

Supporting international technical collaborations

AWE physicists, Peter Watkeys and Mat Budsworth, working with colleagues from Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) delivered a key experimental campaign to support verification of the UK’s nuclear deterrent. The campaign successfully generated high quality data used to verify (x-ray) radiation transport codes and coupled electromagnetic codes – helping AWE scientists to deliver warheads safely and reliably.

The UK-US team undertook an SGEMP (System Generated Electromagnetic Pulse) campaign on the world’s most powerful pulsed power machine Z at Sandia. The Z machine uses the well known principle of Z-pinch where the fast discharge of capacitors through a target causes its collapse towards its centerline, under the influence of Lorentz forces (current, magnetic field, force). This can lead to high numbers of x-rays being emitted.

SGEMP is a term covering the phenomenon where photon exposure leads to the emission of electrons. The experimental campaign involved Cavity SGEMP and Cable SGEMP. Cavity SGEMP is the specific case where the photo-electron emission is into a cavity. This emission leads to the generation of large evolving magnetic and electric fields. Cable SGEMP is where the photo-electron emission is from a cable, either its core or shield. There is also the effect of the changing electromagnetic fields within a cavity coupling to cables, thereby potentially inducing currents onto cable cores.

AWE Radiation Science Group Leader, David Osborne, said:

“The data generated during this experimental series will enable AWE and SNL to further enhance the development of their understanding of the SGEMP phenomena, and the computational tools used to model this system response.” 

A total of 23 experiments were designed, built and characterised by Peter and Mat.

It is expected that once the data analysis has been completed, further work will be undertaken to examine whether experimental variations align with those predicted by the simulations.

 

Image: The Z-machine during operation. Electrical discharges illuminate the surface of the machine at shot time. (Courtesy of Sandia National Laboratories)

More news

AWE Recognised Among Top Ten in the 2025 REDI Index for Religious Inclusion AWE is proud to announce its inclusion in the top ten of the 2025 Religious Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Index

Latest News

AWE named a top ten inclusive employer

It’s official; we’re a top ten inclusive employer in the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation 2025 Religious Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) Index. It means we join the ranks of Thames Water, Direct Line Group, John Lewis Partnership and Rolls-Royce. We take inclusion seriously and we believe in walking the walk. That’s why we have several initiatives in […]

Latest News

Academia exchange: AWE sponsored PhD student’s international experience

An AWE sponsored PhD student from Bangor University, Moli, has recently returned from a unique and inspiring four-month international exchange programme that provided valuable insights into the wider nuclear industry and contributed to her PhD research which uses computational methods to explore and assess the nuclear forensics signatures of exotic materials and how they evolve over […]

Search Sitemap