Recent progress in a single-pulse Nanosecond Impulse Neutron Investigation System (NINIS) intended for interrogation of hidden objects by means of measuring elastically scattered neutrons is presented in this paper. The method uses very bright neutron pulses having duration of the order of 10 ns only, which are generated by dense plasma focus (DPF) devices filled with pure deuterium or DT mixture as a working gas. The small size occupied by the neutron bunch in space, number of neutrons per pulse and mono-chromaticity (ΔE/E∼1%) of the neutron spectrum provides the opportunity to use a time-of-flight (TOF) technique with flying bases of about a few metres. In our researches we used DPF devices having bank energy in the range 2–7 kJ. The devices generate a neutron yield of the level of 108–109 2.45 MeV and 1010–1011 14 MeV neutrons per pulse with pulse duration ∼10–20 ns. TOF base in the tests was 2.2–18.5 m. We have demonstrated the possibility of registering of neutrons scattered by the substances under investigation—1 litre bottles with methanol (CH3OH), phosphoric (H2PO4) and nitric (HNO3) acids as well as a long object—a 1 m gas tank filled with deuterium at high pressure. It is shown that the above mentioned short TOF bases and relatively low neutron yields are enough to distinguish different elements’ nuclei composing the substance under interrogation and to characterize the geometry of lengthy objects in some cases. The wavelet technique was employed to ‘clean’ the experimental data registered. The advantages and restrictions of the proposed and tested NINIS technique in comparison with other methods are discussed.

The influence of the combined interaction of a CO2 laser (10.6 μm) and a Nd:YAG laser (1.06 μm) with a solid tantalum target has been investigated. Changing plasma parameters as temperature and density can be traced back by measurement of the charge state distribution after extraction from the expanding plasma. Analysis of the measurements for the single lasers as well as for the combined impact show an increase in plasma temperature, strongly depending on the delay between the two laser pulses. A maximum charge state rising from 11+ to 13+ can be observed.

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Samples of materials counted as perspective ones for use in the first-wall and construction elements in nuclear fusion reactors (FRs) with magnetic and inertial plasma confinement (W, Ti, Al, low-activated ferritic steel 'Eurofer' and some alloys) were irradiated in the dense plasma focus (DPF) device 'Bora' having a bank energy of 5 kJ. The device generates hot dense (T ∼ 1 keV, n ∼ 10 19 cm −3 ) deuterium plasma, powerful plasma streams (v ∼ 3×10 7 cm s −1 ) and fast (E ∼ 0.1 . . . 1.0 MeV) deuterons of power flux densities q up to 10 10 and 10 12 W cm −2 correspondingly. 'Damage factor' F = q × τ 0.5 ensures an opportunity to simulate radiation loads (predictable for both reactors types) by the plasma/ion streams, which have the same nature and namely those parameters as expected in the FR modules. Before and after irradiation we provided investigations of our samples by means of a number of analytical techniques. Among them we used optical and scanning electron microscopy to understand character and parameters of damageability of the surface layers of the samples. Atomic force microscopy was applied to measure roughness of the surface after irradiation. These characteristics are quite important for understanding mechanisms and values of dust production in FR that may relate to tritium retention and emergency situations in FR facilities. We also applied two new techniques. For the surface we elaborated the portable x-ray diffractometer that combines x-ray single photon detection with high spectroscopic and angular resolutions. For bulk damageability investigations we applied an x-ray microCT system where x-rays were produced by a Hamamatsu microfocus source (150 kV, 500 µA, 5 µm minimum focal spot size). The detector was a Hamamatsu CMOS flat panel coupled to a fibre optic plate under the GOS scintillator. The reconstruction of three-dimensional data was run with Cobra 7.4 and DIGIX CT software while VG Studio Max 2.1, and Amira 5.3 were used for segmentation and rendering. We have also provided numerical simulation of the fast ion beam action. The paper contains results on the investigations of modifications of the elemental contents, structure and properties of the materials.