skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Exploring New Frontiers in Kinetic Physics in Inertial Confinement Fusion

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1494350· OSTI ID:1494350
 [1]
  1. Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

The original objective of this Truman LDRD project was to explore the use of novel wave-particle plasma interactions in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research. However, the emergence of many exciting developments in the national ICF program, including the Sandia- led "MagLIF" effort, led to extensive reformulation of the LDRD objectives. In the spirit of the original proposal, the research purview was broadened to encompass all "kinetic" (i.e., non-hydrodynamic) phenomena relevant to ICF. Significant research accomplishments include: developing theory and modeling strategies describing nonlocal ion losses and fusion reactivity reduction in unique burning plasma assemblies, including magnetized and spatially-deformed plasmas; developing numerical and conceptual tools describing the relationship between fuel magnetization and nuclear reaction histories in magneto-inertial fusion and applying these tools to groundbreaking MagLIF experiments on Sandia's Z Facility; and developing detailed analytic theories of the stability of imploding targets and applying them to uncover increasingly stable platforms for magnetically-driven implosions.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1494350
Report Number(s):
SAND-2015-8730; 672306
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English