Video: The Latest Developments in Fusion Energy

LLNL plasma physicist Tammy Ma talked about how the Lab achieved fusion ignition at NIF and the long road still ahead toward fusion energy during this presentation recorded on Feb. 2, 2024, at the United Kingdom’s Royal Institution.

“We are using inertial confinement fusion to bring star power to Earth,” said Ma, the lead for LLNL’s Inertial Fusion Energy IFE Institutional Initiative and Advanced Photon Technologies Program Element leader for High-Intensity Laser High Energy Density Science.

The event on the latest developments in fusion energy was presented by the Royal Institution, a science education organization, in partnership with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority. Ma followed talks by Fernanda Rimini, senior manager of the Joint European Torus (JET), and Pietro Barabaschi, director-general of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) organization.

Ma explained how NIF’s 192 lasers first produced ignition on Dec. 5, 2022, and repeated the feat several times since. NIF’s mission serves the NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program, ensuring the safety, security, and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent.

Repeatedly achieving ignition also provides the foundational science needed for a fusion energy future. She outlined the many steps needed to create that future fusion power plant and why “we are at a very pivotal moment in fusion research.”

Ma’s talk starts at the 39:48 mark in this video.