Abstract
A European consortium of 15 laboratories across nine nations have worked together under the EUROFusion Enabling Research grants for the past decade with three principle objectives. These are: (a) investigating obstacles to ignition on megaJoule-class laser facilities; (b) investigating novel alternative approaches to ignition, including basic studies for fast ignition (both electron and ion-driven), auxiliary heating, shock ignition, etc.; and (c) developing technologies that will be required in the future for a fusion reactor. A brief overview of these activities, presented here, along with new calculations relates the concept of auxiliary heating of inertial fusion targets, and provides possible future directions of research and development for the updated European Roadmap that is due at the end of 2020.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)’.
Highlights
In early March 2020, a Hooke Discussion Meeting entitled ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy’ was held at The Royal Society in London
Disparate length- and timescales involved in many aspects of inertial fusion research makes them both challenging for physicists and fascinating in equal measure
There are promising new solutions to these challenges that are under active investigation by our consortium
Summary
In early March 2020, a Hooke Discussion Meeting entitled ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy’ was held at The Royal Society in London. There are new advances in laser technology based upon optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) that might lead to multi-kJ petawatt-scale ultra-violet pulses Despite these challenges, fast ignition promises much higher overall fusion energy gain, meaning it will likely lead to a commercially viable reactor much more quickly. Research investments in high energy ultraviolet short pulse lasers is an enabling technology that could more quickly lead to a viable commercial reactor for inertial fusion energy It would be a fraction of the cost of one based upon the indirect drive inertial confinement fusion approach, and so is an attractive path forward for inclusion in the European
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