Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); High Energy Density Physics Division, Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
The National Ignition Campaign (NIC) was a multi-institution effort established under the National Nuclear Security Administration of DOE in 2005, prior to the completion of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in 2009. The scope of the NIC was the planning and preparation for and the execution of the first 3 yr of ignition experiments (through the end of September 2012) as well as the development, fielding, qualification, and integration of the wide range of capabilities required for ignition. Besides the operation and optimization of the use of NIF, these capabilities included over 50 optical, x-ray, and nuclear diagnostic systems, target fabrication facilities, experimental platforms, and a wide range of NIF facility infrastructure. The goal of ignition experiments on the NIF is to achieve, for the first time, ignition and thermonuclear burn in the laboratory via inertial confinement fusion and to develop a platform for ignition and high energy density applications on the NIF. The goal of the NIC was to develop and integrate all of the capabilities required for a precision ignition campaign and, if possible, to demonstrate ignition and gain by the end of FY12. The goal of achieving ignition can be divided into three main challenges. The first challenge is defining specifications for the target, laser, and diagnostics with the understanding that not all ignition physics is fully understood and not all material properties are known. The second challenge is designing experiments to systematically remove these uncertainties. The third challenge is translating these experimental results into metrics designed to determine how well the experimental implosions have performed relative to expectations and requirements and to advance those metrics toward the conditions required for ignition. This paper summarizes the approach taken to address these challenges, along with the progress achieved to date and the challenges that remain. At project completion in 2009, NIF lacked almost all the diagnostics and infrastructure required for ignition experiments. About half of the 3 yr period covered in this review was taken up by the effort required to install and performance qualify the equipment and experimental platforms needed for ignition experiments. Ignition on the NIF is a grand challenge undertaking and the results presented here represent a snapshot in time on the path toward that goal. The path forward presented at the end of this review summarizes plans for the Ignition Campaign on the NIF, which were adopted at the end of 2012, as well as some of the key results obtained since the end of the NIC.
Lindl, John, et al. "Review of the National Ignition Campaign 2009-2012." Physics of Plasmas, vol. 21, no. 2, Jan. 2014. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4865400
Lindl, John, Landen, Otto, Edwards, John, & Moses, Ed (2014). Review of the National Ignition Campaign 2009-2012. Physics of Plasmas, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4865400
Lindl, John, Landen, Otto, Edwards, John, et al., "Review of the National Ignition Campaign 2009-2012," Physics of Plasmas 21, no. 2 (2014), https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4865400
@article{osti_1129430,
author = {Lindl, John and Landen, Otto and Edwards, John and Moses, Ed},
title = {Review of the National Ignition Campaign 2009-2012},
annote = {The National Ignition Campaign (NIC) was a multi-institution effort established under the National Nuclear Security Administration of DOE in 2005, prior to the completion of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in 2009. The scope of the NIC was the planning and preparation for and the execution of the first 3 yr of ignition experiments (through the end of September 2012) as well as the development, fielding, qualification, and integration of the wide range of capabilities required for ignition. Besides the operation and optimization of the use of NIF, these capabilities included over 50 optical, x-ray, and nuclear diagnostic systems, target fabrication facilities, experimental platforms, and a wide range of NIF facility infrastructure. The goal of ignition experiments on the NIF is to achieve, for the first time, ignition and thermonuclear burn in the laboratory via inertial confinement fusion and to develop a platform for ignition and high energy density applications on the NIF. The goal of the NIC was to develop and integrate all of the capabilities required for a precision ignition campaign and, if possible, to demonstrate ignition and gain by the end of FY12. The goal of achieving ignition can be divided into three main challenges. The first challenge is defining specifications for the target, laser, and diagnostics with the understanding that not all ignition physics is fully understood and not all material properties are known. The second challenge is designing experiments to systematically remove these uncertainties. The third challenge is translating these experimental results into metrics designed to determine how well the experimental implosions have performed relative to expectations and requirements and to advance those metrics toward the conditions required for ignition. This paper summarizes the approach taken to address these challenges, along with the progress achieved to date and the challenges that remain. At project completion in 2009, NIF lacked almost all the diagnostics and infrastructure required for ignition experiments. About half of the 3 yr period covered in this review was taken up by the effort required to install and performance qualify the equipment and experimental platforms needed for ignition experiments. Ignition on the NIF is a grand challenge undertaking and the results presented here represent a snapshot in time on the path toward that goal. The path forward presented at the end of this review summarizes plans for the Ignition Campaign on the NIF, which were adopted at the end of 2012, as well as some of the key results obtained since the end of the NIC.},
doi = {10.1063/1.4865400},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1129430},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
issn = {ISSN 1070-664X},
number = {2},
volume = {21},
place = {United States},
publisher = {American Institute of Physics (AIP)},
year = {2014},
month = {01}}
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Plasma Science and Fusion Center; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Contributing Organization:
NIC Team
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0001857
OSTI ID:
1129430
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 22251997 OSTI ID: 1229813
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 21; ISSN 1070-664X
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 488, Issue 1-2https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9002(02)00474-6
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, Vol. 705https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2012.12.078