Nuclear Pumped Lasers for space power beaming
- Fusion Studies Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 103 S. Goodwin Av., Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)
Nuclear Pumped Lasers (NPLs) offer unique advantages for a variety of high-power laser applications. NPLs receive pump energy from nuclear reactions created by neutrons entering the laser medium. This technique offers a high specific power and compactness of nuclear energy-sources that pump a large volume of the laser-active medium. The unique large excitation volume results in a high energy output. In addition, the direct use of neutrons from a fission reactor avoids intermediate energy conversion steps. The concept explored here extracts both electrical and laser outputs from a single 'hybrid' or dual purpose reactor. Simultaneous electrical production helps defray the high cost of such a facility, making space power beaming more practical.
- OSTI ID:
- 21179647
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 420, Issue 1; Conference: STAIF-1998: Space technology and applications international forum - 1998, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 25-29 Jan 1998; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.54723; (c) 1998 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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