JANESVILLE, Wis., April 24, 2023 – SHINE Technologies, LLC, a next-generation fusion technology company, today announced a new service providing state-of-the-art radiation effects testing. SHINE plans to provide the service in a dedicated facility on the company’s Janesville, Wisconsin campus, and will use high-energy fusion neutrons to test and derisk its aerospace and defense customers’ mission-critical components that are susceptible to radiation-harsh environments.
Neutron radiation poses a significant risk to electronics in multiple ways, including long-term cumulative effects and single-event, high-energy disturbances. The effects can prove catastrophic for spacecraft, satellites, and other strategic aerospace and defense systems. Radiation effects testing helps mitigate those risks by testing the reliability of components before they are deployed in missions.
SHINE’s radiation effects testing, called FLARE (Fusion Linear Accelerator for Radiation Effects), is expected to provide the industry’s highest fluence of high-energy fusion neutrons (referred to as 14 MeV). It will expand the Department of Defense’s capacity to test its systems in pursuit of force readiness, sustainability, and new system deployment.
“We are excited to expand our offerings when it comes to using fusion technology to inspect mission-critical components that are relied on to protect life, ensure mission effectiveness, and reinforce the defense of our country,” said Greg Piefer, founder and CEO of SHINE. “Our technology provides the brightest time-averaged source of fusion neutrons in the world, allowing for much faster and more accurate testing capabilities than were previously available.”
In SHINE’s four-phased scalable approach to fusion technology, the new radiation effects testing service expands the company’s first-phase abilities to inspect industrial components. The new service is also underpinned by its deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion neutron source technology, which was developed over the past decade as a critical subsystem of the company’s medical isotope manufacturing process. The system achieved what is believed to be a world record for accelerator-based neutron yield in 2019.
SHINE’s radiation effects testing service is expected to begin operation in late 2023. The company will showcase the service at the 2023 Hardened Electronics and Radiation Testing (HEART) Conference, Booth 13, in Omaha, Nebraska, from April 24-28.