Pulsed power in Ukraine

This report summarizes the broad spectrum of activity in pulsed power technology in Ukraine during the last decade of the twentieth century. The purpose of this report is to acquaint the pulsed power community with the major centers in Ukraine which are conducting pulsed power research and developing applications associated with this technology. The pulsed power research and development of applications are being revamped as Ukraine's economy transitions to a free market economy. Because of current economic conditions, pulsed power development is constrained, especially in the experimental and development areas. Historically, development of pulsed power investigations in Ukraine was driven by the needs of experimental physics and by the new electrotechnology developments, as well as by the pure scientific interest of the researchers. The first application of pulsed power processes was magneto-impulse forming in the early 1960s. Gradually the pulsed power applications spread to other technologies (e.g., metal powder sintering) and to designs of special (pulsed) electromechanical devices. With participation of many institutes and research laboratories, the pulsed power technology is concentrated in centers in three cities.