Hydrodynamic instability activity in high current PRS implosions

To effectively utilize the energy produced in proposed high current pulsed power drivers, a large amount of kinetic energy must be generated during the implosion in order to reach the K-shell for moderate Z elements. This requires that the gas puff, or wire array, load start the running phase of the implosion from relatively large radii. That is, greater than the 1--2 centimeters which is typical of present day experiments. Unfortunately, this makes the load prone to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. A two-dimensional numerical simulation code is being used to evaluate the importance of these instabilities on future pulsed power drivers which might have currents larger than 50 MA. Stability analysis resulting from hydrodynamic simulations will be presented for thin shell and uniform fill loads with initial large radii. In addition, novel load schemes such as inverted fills and multiple shells will be discussed