Inertial Fusion Energy Program Research Articles

From KMS Fusion to HB11 Energy and Xcimer Energy, a personal 50 year IFE perspective

Shortly after the laser was invented in 1960, scientists sought to use it for thermonuclear fusion. By 1963, Livermore had a classified laser inertial confinement fusion (ICF) program and leaders predicted scientific breakeven by 1973. In 1974, KMS Fusion, Inc. announced thermonuclear neutrons from a laser target and promised grid electricity within 10 years. Private capital was attracted, but the data fell far short of the optimistic simulations. Magnetic fusion energy has had civilian funding (DOE), while ICF has primarily received military funding (DOE Defense Programs and now NNSA). As bigger lasers have been built and better simulations performed, optimism about ICF breakeven has waxed and waned. The achievement of ignition and gain on NIF has validated ICF's scientific basis, and the DOE and venture capital funded private companies are again interested in inertial fusion energy (IFE). The new DOE Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program is creating public–private partnerships to accelerate progress toward fusion pilot plants. ARPA-E, DOE INFUSE, and DOE IFE STAR are also building a U.S. IFE program within DOE. The U.S. leads in ICF, but developing IFE is an international competition. Private companies are leading the way. HB11 Energy Pty Ltd. is pursuing the aneutronic proton–boron fuel cycle. Xcimer Energy is developing a disruptive IFE technology to achieve high laser energies at dramatically lower costs. This 50-year perspective discusses where the U.S. IFE program is headed and promising strategies for progress in establishing an effective U.S. IFE program from both public and private perspectives.

DOE launches inertial fusion energy program

DOE launches inertial fusion energy program

Recent progress and future prospects for IFE in China

The China inertial fusion program entered a new phase due to the completion of a series of experimental works on the SG laser facilities and numerical simulations by LARED. In the past two years, the solid state laser facility SG-III, which will be scaled -up for ignition, is being constructed, the SG-IV serving for ignition is planned, the SG-IIU+PW (SG-II upgrading and petawatt laser constructing) for fast ignition physics is in progress. The studies of target physics through experiments on operating SG-II and SG-III prototype and simulations using LARED codes have made great progress. In this report, we present the latest advances in China inertial fusion energy program

The Rationale for an Expanded Inertial Fusion Energy Program

The rationale for an expanded effort on the development of inertial fusion as an energy source is discussed. It is argued that there should be a two-pronged, complementary approach to fusion energy development over the next two to three decades: (1) Magnetic Fusion (MFE) via ITER and the supporting magnetic domestic program and (2) Inertial Fusion (IFE), a credible, affordable approach that exploits unique US strengths and current world leadership. IFE is only a few years away from demonstration of single-shot ignition and fusion energy gain via NIF. Enhanced funding for IFE R&D is needed in the near-term in order to prepare to expeditiously proceed beyond NIF to the energy application of inertial fusion.

Status of IFE safety and environmental activities in the US

This paper presents an overview of recent progress in the area of inertial fusion energy (IFE) safety and environment (S&E) in the US. Over the past several years, a significant effort has been devoted towards the development of S&E analyses for future IFE power plants. We have completed the safety assessment of various baseline IFE power plant concepts, including simulation of accident scenarios and accident consequences analyses, S&E studies of candidate target materials and discussions on waste management issues. The results from this work have allowed for a better understanding of the behaviour of radioactive sources and hazardous materials within the IFE power plant, identification of the energy sources that could mobilize those materials in case of an accident and assessment of waste management options for IFE. Currently, ongoing S&E studies for IFE are focusing on emerging design concepts, which include support to the high average power laser (HAPL) program for development of a dry-wall, laser-driven IFE power plant and collaboration with the Z-pinch IFE program for the production of an economically attractive power plant using high-yield Z-pinch-driven targets. In this paper, the main safety issues related to the HAPL and Z-IFE programs are reviewed, some recent safety highlights are presented and future directions in the IFE S&E area are proposed.

Overview of Russian heavy-ion inertial fusion energy program

The activities overview of Russian laboratories on Heavy-Ion Fusion is presented. The new data on development of the power plant concept based on direct drive of cylindrical DT target by intense 500 MeV/u ion beam in fast ignition mode and two sections wetted liquid wall reactor chamber with lithium–lead blanket are presented. A heavy-ion driver system providing consequent compression and ignition of the cylindrical DT target is described. Data on repetitive energy fluxes generated by the 750 MJ of microfusion explosion are given. The design of the thin liquid wall reactor chamber is specified. The behavior of the liquid film at the first wall and the blanket material under a pulsed energy flux loading is emphasized. The energy conversion thermal scheme and power plant output parameters are presented. The state of the art of the ITEP-TWAC accelerator facility operation and new results of current beam–plasma interaction experiments are discussed. This work has been done under the auspices of the Scientific Council of Russian Academy of Sciences “Analysis of Energy Systems” under the chairmanship of academician V.I. Subbotin.

A Review of the U.S. Department of Energy's Inertial Fusion Energy Program

This is the final report of a panel set up by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) in response to a charge letter from Dr. Ray Orbach (Appendix A). In that letter, Dr. Orbach asked FESAC for “an assessment of the present status of” inertial fusion energy (IFE) research carried out in contributing programs. These programs include the heavy ion (HI) beam, the high average power laser (HAPL), and Z-Pinch drivers and associated technologies, including fast ignition (FI). This report, presented to FESAC on March 29, 2004, and subsequently approved by them (Appendix B), presents FESAC's response to that charge.

IFE target fabrication and injection—achieving “believability”

At the heart of an inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant is a target that has been compressed and heated to fusion conditions by the incident driver energy beams. The “Target Factory” at an inertial fusion power plant must produce about 500,000 targets per day, fill them with deuterium–tritium fuel, cool them to cryogenic temperature, and layer the solid fuel into a symmetric and smooth shell inside the capsule. The target must then accurately be delivered to the target chamber center at a rate of about 5 Hz, with a precisely predicted target location. These fragile targets must survive injection into the target chamber without damage. While IFE power plant design studies have presented plausible scenarios for IFE target fabrication and injection, these issues have become “believability” issues for IFE. A credible pathway for development of accurate, economic and reliable IFE target fabrication and injection must be demonstrated before we can proceed with the next major step in the IFE Program, the construction of an IFE Integrated Research Experiment. General Atomics is designing, constructing, and testing an experimental Target Injection and Tracking System to develop the scientific understanding necessary for injection of IFE targets into a high temperature reaction chamber. This paper summarizes the requirements for IFE target fabrication and injection, reviews the results from the studies that predict success, discusses the development program now underway, and presents the current status of and results from that program.

Report of the FESAC Inertial Fusion Energy review panel

This article is a response to the Office of Energy Research of the US DOE from the Fusion Energy Advisory Committee on a review of the Inertial Fusion Energy Program. This response was solicited in response to one of the suggestions made as part of the advisory report `A Restructured Fusion Energy Sciences Program` submitted to the US DOE in early 1996. The charge directed that the committee provide an assessment of the content of an inertial fusion energy program that advances the scientific elements of the program and is consistent with the Fusion Energy Sciences Program, and budget projections over the next several years.

The promise of heavy ion fusion

In his paper in this issue, Dr. David Crandall of the Office of Fusion Energy presented DOE budget figures for magnetic fusion energy (MFE) and inertial fusion energy (IFE). Funding for IFE decreased from about $9M in FY91 and FY92 to $7.7M in FY93. The Bush budget for FY94 allocated $6.5M for IFE. Clearly the trend is down. In contrast, the FY93 budget for MFE is $330.7M and the Bush budget allocated $416.6M for FY94. These trends force one to ask if there should be an IFE program. In the authors opinion the answer to this question is emphatically affirmative. The remainder of this paper explaines the reasons for this opinion. The paper will emphasize heavy ion inertial fusion (HIF), but many of the reasons apply to any inertial fusion system. There are numerous studies, detailed calculations, and experiments that support the conclusion that HIF is promising: however, enough `promising` fusion schemes have come and gone that many fusion researchers (and politicians) have developed some skepticism about the results and projections of studies, calculations, and even some experiments. To be believable, results and projections must be consistent with scientific, technological, and industrial experience. Therefore this paper will not emphasize detailedmore » studies, but rather plausibility arguments based on experience with large high-energy accelerators and common industrial practice.« less