Shock Ignition: A New Approach to High Gain Inertial Confinement Fusion on the National Ignition Facility

Journal Article · Fri Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.103.045004· OSTI ID:21347089

Perkins, L J; LaFortune, K N; Williams, W H ^[1]; Betti, R ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore California 94550 (United States)
2. Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester New York 14623 (United States)

Shock ignition, an alternative concept for igniting thermonuclear fuel, is explored as a new approach to high gain, inertial confinement fusion targets for the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Results indicate thermonuclear yields of approx120-250 MJ may be possible with laser drive energies of 1-1.6 MJ, while gains of approx50 may still be achievable at only approx0.2 MJ drive energy. The scaling of NIF energy gain with laser energy is found to be Gapprox126E (MJ){sup 0.510}. This offers the potential for high-gain targets that may lead to smaller, more economic fusion power reactors and a cheaper fusion energy development path.

• OSTI ID: 21347089
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 103; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
CONFINEMENT
FUELS
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
LASERS
PLASMA CONFINEMENT
POWER REACTORS
REACTORS
THERMONUCLEAR FUELS
THERMONUCLEAR IGNITION
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
US NATIONAL IGNITION FACILITY