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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's activities to achieve ignition by X-ray drive on the National Ignition Facility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 1999

J.D. KILKENNY ,
T.P. BERNAT ,
B.A. HAMMEL ,
R.L. KAUFFMAN ,
O.L. LANDEN ,
J.D. LINDL ,
B.J. MacGOWAN ,
J.A. PAISNER  and
H.T. POWELL
J.D. KILKENNY
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
T.P. BERNAT
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
B.A. HAMMEL
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
R.L. KAUFFMAN
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
O.L. LANDEN
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
J.D. LINDL
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
B.J. MacGOWAN
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
J.A. PAISNER
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
H.T. POWELL
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, P.O. Box 808, L-488, Livermore, CA 94550, USA
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Abstract

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a MJ-class glass laser-based facility funded by the Department of Energy which has achieved thermonuclear ignition and moderate gain as one of its main objectives. In the summer of 1998, the project was about 40% complete, and design and construction was on schedule and on cost. The NIF will start firing onto targets in 2001, and will achieve full energy in 2004. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) together with the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have the main responsibility for achieving X-ray driven ignition on the NIF. In the 1990s, a comprehensive series of experiments on Nova at LLNL, followed by recent experiments on the Omega laser at the University of Rochester, demonstrated confidence in understanding the physics of X-ray drive implosions. The same physics at equivalent scales is used in calculations to predict target performance on the NIF, giving credence to calculations of ignition on the NIF. An integrated program of work in preparing the NIF for X-ray driven ignition in about 2007, and the key issues being addressed on the current Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) facilities [(Nova, Omega, Z at Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) and NIKE at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)], are described.

Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 159 - 171
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract No. W-7405-ENG-48.