Laser inertial confinementwhen researchers at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab created “net energy” via nuclear fusion reaction for the first time.
The interior of the target chamber inside the National Ignition Facility on the campus of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Technicians can be seen on the left. The target positioner, which holds the target where 192 lasers can be aimed, is on the right. And General Atomics will work with Xcimer Energy in its fusion research on designing and building the target and other aspects of the laser experiments.
“The idea is to be able to produce the target, to fuel the target and then deliver the target to the intended laser interaction spot, which is inside a chamber,” Farrell said, “and that chamber is like a power plant. It collects the heat that’s generated and then turns the heat into steam, just like a normal power plant would.”