Inertial Confinement Fusion

Abstract

The progress inertial confinement fusion (ICF) physics experiments and driver development is put in perspective by looking at the performance required to perform various military and commercial applications. Both the military and commercial applications require increasingly more-powerful drivers and a better understanding of target-coupling physics. However, it is expected that the military applications will be achieved much earlier because they do not require such efficient drivers and high average power. A reactor design concept being developed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory was selected to present a view of an inertial fusion power plant. This conceptual design was sufficiently detailed to allow a reasonable assessment of the social and economic costs associated with inertial fusion electricity production. The development of inertial fusion as a commercial source of energy represents a sophisticated and challenging problem whose solution will require an enormous commitment of human and financial resources over the next 25 years. The technical hurdles promise to be as demanding as the scientific groundwork. Nevertheless, the problems and the efforts required to solve them are dwarfed by the significance of the payoff-an affordable source of energy that is safe and compatible with our environment. 33 references, 6 figures, 2 tables.