Inertial Fusion Energy Resources

 

LLNL’s historic achievement of fusion ignition at NIF in December 2022 positions the United States with a “unique opportunity” to further lead the world scientific community’s pursuit of developing fusion as a future source of clean energy, according to a U.S. Department of Energy DOE report.

Capitalizing on that opportunity will require a renewed, robust, and rapidly paced program of inertial fusion energy (IFE) research that coordinates efforts from the public, private and academic sectors. This conclusion comes from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science-sponsored IFE Basic Research Needs (BRN) report, which resulted from a three-day workshop in June 2022 and many months of work by a panel of experts.

  

IFE Basic Research Needs Cover

IFE Basic Research Needs Summary

IFE Basic Research Needs Full Report

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY REPORTS

FESAC Long Range Plan: Powering the Future Fusion & Plasmas: A long-range plan to deliver fusion energy and to advance plasma science (2021)

Report on the NNSA - Office of Science: Basic Research Directions for User Science at the National Ignition Facility (2011)

Brightest Light Initiative (2019)

DOE Basic Research Needs for High Energy Density Laboratory Physics (2009)

 

COMMUNITY PLANNING REPORTS

APS-DPP Community Planning Process (2020)

 

LLNL IFE References

The potential application of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) to energy production has been pursued by the community, including LLNL, since the recognition that it might be possible to achieve high gain ICF in the laboratory. Over the decades, LLNL has contributed to multiple IFE studies, with significant efforts, including the High Average Power Laser (HAPL) program, in the 1990’s and 2000’s for both laser and heavy ion driven concepts.

A substantive recent effort was the Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) study, which aimed to develop an accelerated path towards commercialization of IFE in anticipation of ignition (breakeven) on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). As a relatively recent effort (~2008 to ~2014) that studied, preliminarily developed, and integrated many aspects of what might be required to achieve IFE, the results from LIFE can provide one viewpoint and help inform the IFE community as we work to develop an appropriate path forward.

This LLNL web page provides a list of references for potential follow up.