Maxwell Energy Products announced today that the company has awarded a contract to deliver all of the high voltage power supplies to Los Alamos National Laboratory's ATLAS program. The contract was awarded after a competitive evaluation and qualification process. The 96 custom-designed power supplies are comprised of 48 each positive polarity, 65 kV 12 kJ/s power supplies and 48 each negative polarity, 65 kV 12 kJ/s power supplies.

The oil-insulated AC/DC switching power supplies will be used to charge 600 pound (270 kg) energy storage capacitors (also built by Maxwell Energy Products) in 24 Marx Generator Modules. The Marx capacitors are charged to ±60 kV and then discharged in series to deliver a pulse of high peak power used for high-energy physics experiments.

When complete, ATLAS will be a 650-ton pulse power machine that will be capable of recreating the enormous pressures in a nuclear explosion in a small, contained volume. The hydrodynamic pressures achieved will be an order of magnitude greater than those achieved in LANL's Pegasus II machine (for which Maxwell also supplied capacitors). The machine will produce a 30 million amp, 6-microsecond current pulse and use it drive the electromagnetic implosion of a four inch diameter metal "liner", which will implode at velocities of 22,000 miles per hour. At its peak power level, the ATLAS machine will be producing the equivalent of four times the electrical power generated in the entire world. ATLAS is part of the Department of Energy's Stockpile Stewardship Program, used to maintain the country's nuclear weapons without the need for actual nuclear explosions.

Maxwell Energy Products is a leading supplier of high voltage, high power AC/DC switching power supplies, and capacitors used in pulse power research facilities, lasers, accelerators, and a variety of other applications.

REFERENCES:

Laboratory's Atlas machine begins experimental work

LANL's Atlas Machine Has Critics, Advocates

THE ATLAS PROJECT

High Energy, Low Inductance, High Current Fiberglass Energy Storage Capacitor For The Atlas Machine Marx Modules

Home | Energy Products | News | Electronic Systems | General Atomics | Quality | Capacitors | Capacitor Selection Guide
Power Supplies | Pulse Power Systems | Pulse Forming Networks | Fuses | Resistors | Product Questionnaires
Product Applications | Catalogs| Links | Technical Publications | Frequently Asked Questions | RMS Current Calculator
Contact Us | End User Statement | Informational Emails | International Reps | Site Map