Leveraging the National Ignition Facility to Meet the Climate-Energy Challenge

摘要

On May 28 and 29, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be hosting distinguished visitors from around the world for the dedication of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Completion of the facility and commissioning of NIF's 192 laser beams is a pivotal event in the long march from the invention of the laser 50 years ago to the use of lasers to produce energy through a process called inertial confinement fusion (ICF).rnExperiments are about to begin in which NIF's 192 laser beams will implode a peppercorn-size capsule filled with deuterium and tritium, two isotopes of hydrogen. Compressed to a density greater than that of lead and heated to a temperature of 100 million kelvins, the deuterium and tritium will fuse, releasing more energy than was used to implode the fuel. Fusion ignition and energy gain will be an unprecedented technical accomplishment with far-reaching societal ramifications.