Relevance of the U.S. National Ignition Facility for driver and target options to next-step inertial fusion test facilities
Achievement of inertial fusion ignition and energy gain in the proposed U.S. National Ignition Facility is a prerequisite for decisions to build next-step U.S. inertial fusion facilities for either high yield or high pulse-rate. There are a variety of target and driver options for such next-step inertial fusion test facilities, and this paper discusses possible ways that the NIF, using a 1.8 MJ glass laser in both direct and indirect-drive configurations, can provide target physics data relevant to several next-step facility options. Next step facility options include the Engineering Test Facility (ETF), which needs several-Hz pulse-rates for testing relevant to Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) development. An option for high yield, called the Laboratory Microfusion Facility (LMF), does not require such high pulse-rates, but may still benefit from driver technologies capable of much higher shot rates than possible with glass lasers. A high-pulse-rate driver could also be used for a combined ETF/LMF facility, driving multiple target chambers with a common driver. Driver technologies that could support high-pulse rates for next-step options include heavy-ion and light-ion accelerators, diode-pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSL), and krypton-flouride gas lasers. The NIF could be used to provide important data for IFE in generic areas of target chamber damage and materials responses, neutron activation and heating, tritium recovery and safety, and in performance tests of prototypical IFE targets and injection systems. In the study of ignition in both direct and indirect-drive, the NIF would explore generic ICF fuel capsule implosion physics common to all driver and target options for next-step facilities. In the following, we point out specific ways in which the NIF could be used to study target physics specifically relevant to the above-mentioned driver options for such next-step facilities, as well as how the NIF laser system itself could be relevant to the DPSSL option.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 102442
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JC--120766; CONF-950476--13; ON: DE95017276
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Utility of the US National Ignition Facility for development of inertial fusion energy
KrF laser path to high gain ICF (inertial confinement fusion) laboratory microfusion facility