Progress in Safety and Environmental Aspects of Inertial Fusion Energy at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

摘要

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is making significant progress in several areas related to the safety and environmental (S and E) aspects of inertial fusion energy (IFE). A detailed accident analysis has been completed for the HYLIFE-II power plant design. Additional accident analyses are underway for both the HYLIFE-II and Sombrero designs. Other S and E work at LLNL has addressed the issue of the driver-chamber interface and its importance for both heavy-ion and laser-driven IFE. Radiation doses and fluences have been calculated for final focusing mirrors and magnets and shielding optimization is underway to extend the anticipated lifetimes for key components. Target designers/fabrication specialists have been provided with ranking information related to the S and E characteristics of candidate target materials (e.g., ability to recycle, accident consequences, and waste management). Ongoing work in this area will help guide research directions and the selection of target materials. Published and continuing work on fast ignition has demonstrated some of the potentially attractive S and E features of such designs.