Sciences naturelles

Review of the Department of Energy's Inertial Confinement Fusion Program; The National Ignition Facility

1997 · réf. 73931 — W: National Academy Press 1997. Presumed First Edition First printing. Wraps. Very good. viii 55 1 pages. Footnotes. Illustrations. Acronyms and Abbreviations. Text pasted inside front cover addressed a temporary difficulty DOE had in being able to use this report. Inertial confinement fusion ICF is a type of fusion energy research that attempts to initiate nuclear fusion reactions by heating and compressing a fuel target typically in the form of a pellet that most often contains a mixture of deuterium and tritium. To compress and heat the fuel energy is delivered to the outer layer of the target using high-energy beams of laser light electrons or ions. The heated outer layer explodes outward producing a reaction force against the remainder of the target accelerating it inwards compressing the target. A sufficiently powerful set of shock waves can compress and heat the fuel at the center so much that fusion reactions occur. The energy released by these reactions will then heat the surrounding fuel and if the heating is strong enough this could also begin to undergo fusion. The aim of ICF is to produce a condition known as ignition where this heating process causes a chain reaction that burns a significant portion of the fuel. When it was first proposed in the early 1970s ICF appeared to be a practical approach to fusion power production and the field flourished. Experiments during the 1970s and '80s demonstrated that reaching ignition would not be easy. Throughout the 1980s and '90s many experiments were conducted in order to understand the complex interaction of high-intensity laser light and plasma. These led to the design of newer machines much larger that would finally reach ignition energies. The Committee for the Review of the Department of Energy's Inertial Confinement Fusion Program was formed in response to a request from the Department of Energy's DOE's Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs Victor H. Reis that the National Research Council NRC review the DOE's Inertial Confinement Fusion ICF program. The recent declaration of Science Based Stockpile Stewardship SBSS as national policy within the broader Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program implies changes in the nuclear weapons program and resulted in a DOE decision that the ICF program a component of SBSS should undergo regular evaluation to ensure its continuing quality and its capacity to contribute both to SBSS and to other national needs. The committee includes members with expertise in theoretical and experimental plasma physics theoretical and applied hydrodynamics and fluid dynamics high-energy physics nuclear physics laser physics optics and optical engineering laser-plasma interactions and computing and computer science. In addition the membership includes individuals experienced in designing building and managing large experimental facilities. One member has experience in nuclear weapons design and another is a long-time leader of a nongovernmental organization concerned with national nuclear energy and weapons policy. All committee members are recognized as leaders in their respective fields of expertise. Several have served on previous committees that have examined ICF and several have consulted for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in various areas. The charge to the committee was as follows: Conduct an initial review to: 1 determine the scientific and technological readiness of the NIF project 2 assess the entire ICF program including program scope balance and priorities; facility operation; experimentation; theory; etc. and make recommendations to facilitate the achievement of the scientific goal which is ignition and 3 evaluate the capabilities of the ICF program in conjunction with NIF to support SBSS. This charge to the committee does not request reassessment of the desirability of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty the necessity for SBSS or the nonproliferation aspects of ICF. Nor does it ask for recommendations about whether or not to construct the proposed NIF a decision that involves considerations beyond the scientific and technical issues considered here. National Academy Press paperback