Advances in Commercial ICF Technology Since 1986

Abstract

Progress in the march toward commercial ICF fusion reactors has been uneven in the past few years. Considerable advances have been made in the area of light ion beam fusion through the development of rep ratable drivers (i.e., HERMES-III technology) and diodes (i.e., applied B configuration with renewable Li surfaces). Significant progress in the development of lasers to compress targets has also been made through the KrF Aurora program. The possibility of lowering the cost of glass in the advanced solid state lasers has been given serious consideration. The development of the Induced Spatial Incoherence (ISI) technique to improve the uniformity of the laser beam has allowed physicists and engineers to once again contemplate the use of symmetric illumination. This would reduce the driver energy required to achieve high gains but it also introduces difficulty in the reactor design. Relatively little progress in commercial heavy ion beam drivers has been made over the past few years aside from an indepth study (HIFSA) of the desirable operating regimes to be pursued. Other areas where little progress has been made are conceptual reactor studies, target declassification and specific experimental programs to address commercial ICF reactor technology needs.