A mobile cryogenic system that conditions and transports thin walled plastic spheres containing Deuterium-Tritium (DT) ice is currently being designed at General Atomics. This equipment will be used in the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (UR/LLE) OMEGA System. This device receives a 1 mm diameter hollow plastic sphere containing DT ice from a filling system. It then transports and precisely positions the sphere while maintaining the surface finish and sphericity of the DT ice. All process steps are performed while the target is at approximately 20 K. The design has a cryogenic heat transfer joint that can conduct significant amounts of heat and be easily engaged and disengaged while producing minimal vibration. It includes a nearly isothermal layering sphere that shapes the DT ice, and provisions for observing the shaping process. Also included is an inflatable seal that contains helium gas within the cryostat, providing a thermal link between the layering sphere and each ice sphere.

*Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC03-95SF20732.