FPN05-69

Interest in Inertial Fusion Rising

September 9, 2005

International interest in applying the potential of inertial fusion for energy applications is rising. A new facility, FIREX (Fast Ignition Realization Experiment) is under construction at Osaka University in Japan and recently a panel of laser physicists from seven European countries, chaired by Prof. Henry Hutchinson of Rutherford Appleton Lab (H.Hutchinson@rl.ac.uk), has put forth a proposal that Europe build a 735 million euro facility (called HIPER) to achieve high energy gains using fast ignition in combination with laser compression of fusion fuel pellets. The proposed facility would consist of a long-pulse (ns) 200kJ laser to compress the pellet and a short-pulse (ps) 70kJ laser to ignite the fuel.

Fast ignition was first proposed by Max Tabak (LLNL) and aspects of it were demonstrated experimentally at the Gekko XII laser at Osaka University by R Kodama and colleagues in 2001. Experiments and simulations are also underway or planned in the U.S. at several sites.

Fast ignition is of interest to inertial fusion physicists because it holds the potential for reducing symmetry requirements on pellet compression and predicted higher energy gain.

Rising interest in inertial fusion is also due, in part, to the nearing completion of construction and beginning of operation of the LMJ laser in France and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the U. S. The NIF project recently announced operation of the second set of four beams, producing 137 kJ (compared to a design goal of 125 kJ). When fully operational, NIF will have 192 beams producing 1.8 MJ. Ignition experiments are set to begin in 2010.