From HERMES I to ZR: Forty One Years of Pulsed Power

Summary form only given. In June of 1966, the Sandia National Laboratories pulsed power program consisted of about a half dozen engineers and technicians with a mission to design and build an intense bremsstrahlung X-ray source for weapons effects testing. A prototype accelerator, Hermes I at 3 to 4 MV, was built to test the pulsed power power for the eventual accelerator that was built, HERMES II. Since that time the Pulsed Power Sciences Center at Sandia has grown to more than 350 Sandians, contractors, and consultants supporting ICF, high energy density physics, shock physics, radiography, basic research, and defense programs. This talk will cover some of the Sandia accelerators and high voltage facilities designed and built (and some not built) from 1966 to now.