FPN02-78

NIF Laser Lights Up

December 20, 2002

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser, under construction at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, reached a major milestone, activating the first four of its 192 laser beams. The NIF laser, largest in the world, is aimed at being the first to ignite a controlled fusion reaction in the laboratory. Subsequent facilities, igniting fusion-fueled pellets repetitively, could provide a new, safe, limitless source of electricity for mankind.

Starting the week of Dec 9, scientists and engineers powered up the laser beams in a series of test runs. At the end of this series of shots, these four laser beams generated at total of over 43,000 Joules of infrared light in a pulse lasting five-billionths of a second. This corresponds to a power level of over 8 thousand billion watts (8 terawatts), which is about 10 times more power than the entire US electrical generating capacity, for 5-billionths of a second.

NIF uses cutting-edge laser and optics technologies to create conditions of extreme temperatures and pressures in small targets. Experiments on NIF will be used as a key part of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile stewardship program. NIF is important for understanding the performance of nuclear weapons as well as for fusion energy production for future energy security and power production.

Other experiments on NIF will advance basic understanding in areas such as materials science and astrophysics.

According to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio, "This important milestone marks the transition of the NIF from a construction project to an integrated light-producing facility. We used almost all of the critical NIF systems: the beampath with supporting utilities, laser components and optics, power conditioning system, diagnostics, and computer controls. NIF is well on its way to becoming an unequalled national scientific research venue."

The next major milestone, scheduled for this spring, is to transport the four laser beams into the 10-meter diameter, one-million pound target chamber. The infrared light will be converted into ultraviolet light and focused on the first targets. This milestone will mark the beginning of commissioning of scientific diagnostic instruments for NIF experiments in support of the Stockpile Stewardship Program, basic science, and inertial fusion energy research.

The NIF is being constructed at Livermore under the auspices of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a separately organized agency of the U.S. Department of Energy.

For further information contact:

Dr. Craig R. Wuest
Assistant Project Manager
National Ignition Facility
Assistant Associate Director
NIF Programs Directorate
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
P. O. Box 808 L-466
Livermore, CA 94551

Phone: (925) 423-2909
Fax: (925) 424-3295
e-mail: wuest@llnl.gov