  We present the latest improvements in the Center for Radiative Shock
Hydrodynamics (CRASH) code, a parallel block-adaptive-mesh Eulerian code for
simulating high-energy-density plasmas. The implementation can solve for
radiation models with either a gray or a multigroup method in the
flux-limited-diffusion approximation. The electrons and ions are allowed to be
out of temperature equilibrium and flux-limited electron thermal heat
conduction is included. We have recently implemented a CRASH laser package with
3-D ray tracing, resulting in improved energy deposition evaluation. New, more
accurate opacity models are available which significantly improve radiation
transport in materials like xenon. In addition, the HYPRE preconditioner has
been added to improve the radiation implicit solver. With this updated version
of the CRASH code we study radiative shock tube problems. In our set-up, a 1
ns, 3.8 kJ laser pulse irradiates a 20 micron beryllium disk, driving a shock
into a xenon-filled plastic tube. The electrons emit radiation behind the
shock. This radiation from the shocked xenon preheats the unshocked xenon.
Photons traveling ahead of the shock will also interact with the plastic tube,
heat it, and in turn this can drive another shock off the wall into the xenon.
We are now able to simulate the long term evolution of radiative shocks.
