The role of the National Ignition Facility in the development of inertial fusion energy

Abstract

The authors have completed a conceptual design for a 1.8-MJ, 500-TW, 0.35-{mu}m solid-state laser system for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which will demonstrate inertial fusion ignition and gain for national security, energy, and science applications. The technical goal of the U.S. Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program as stated in the current ICF Five-Year Program Plan is {open_quotes}to produce pure fusion ignition and burn in the laboratory, with fusion yields of 200 to 1000 MJ, in support of three missions: (1) to play an essential role in accessing physics regimes of interest in nuclear weapon design...; (2) to provide an above-ground simulation capability for nuclear weapon effects...; and (3) to develop inertial fusion energy for civilian power production.{close_quotes} This article addresses the third goal-- the development of inertial fusion energy (IFE). This article reports a variety of potential contributions the NIF could make to the development of IFE, drawn from a nationally attended workshop held at the University of California at Berkeley in Feb, 1994. In addition to demonstrating fusion ignition as a fundamental basis for IFE, the findings of the workshop, are that the NIF could also provide important data for target physics and fabrication technology, for IFE target chamber phenomena such as materials responses to target emissions, and for fusion power technology-relevant tests.