NIF’s high energy laser beams converge on a target in the center of the target chamber. Success in achieving fusion inflammation will be an important step forward in the pursuit of safe, carbon-free fusion energy. Credit: DOE
An influential advisory committee of the Department of Energy (DOE) has recommended that the country move aggressively towards the deployment of fusion energy, including investments in technology and equipment around one of the core missions of the National Inflammation Facility (NIF) of LLNL to support – which lays the foundation for the development of inertial fusion energy (IFE).
The report, The power of the future: fusion and plasmas, was issued in December by the Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee (FESAC). This was quickly followed by a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) in February (NASEM) calling for aggressive action to build a U.S. pilot fusion power plant as soon as 2035.
The two-year FESAC report, which offers a decade-long vision on U.S. fusion energy and plasma science under the FES Program of Fusion Energy Sciences (DOE Office of Science). NIF and PS physicist Tammy Ma, a member of FESAC and the subcommittee for the report, said LLNL was a key participant in the plasma physics community planning process that laid the foundation for the strategic plan for ten years.
Both the FESAC and NASEM reports focus on the development of magnetic fusion energy (MFE) technology, as illustrated by the ITER experiment in France; the United States is one of 35 countries participating in ITER, more than 70 percent complete and aiming for the first plasma operations in 2025.
However, the reports recognize the need for simultaneous pursuit of other government and private amalgamation technologies, including IFE, and the FESAC report points to the ‘enormous progress’ NIF has made with regard to inflammation. Both reports call for partnerships with federal, international and private investors and outline opportunities for growth in mergers and plasma research, which NIF is pursuing closely (see ’10-year report highlights NIF’s contributions to plasma science ‘.)
“FES has historically funded the MFE research in the US, which IFE previously funded, and supported the high-density academic physics research in the US,” Ma said. ‘Although the total funds that LLNL receives from FES each year are small compared to what we receive from NNSA (the National Nuclear Safety Administration), the path that FES maps has always had a significant impact on the trajectory of mergers. and plasma research at the Lab. .
“This report now sets out a strong and coordinated plan for fusion energy and plasma science for the next ten years in the US, and LLNL has an important role to play,” she said.
The FESAC report contains recommendations to FES and priorities for a research and technology development portfolio under three budget scenarios: constant, modest (2 percent) growth and unlimited.
Points and recommendations in the report that are relevant to the work of LLNL include:
- Restart an IFE program, even according to the scenario without a growth budget.
- Continue with robust funding from the HEDLP (high energy density laboratory plasmas) program sponsored by NNSA.
- Complete the design and construction of the case in extreme circumstances
- (MEC) upgrade at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, which supports LLNL.
- Coordinates a high-intensity laser research initiative (FES in collaboration with other federal agencies).
- Aim for the development of a multi-petawatt (quadrillion-watt) laser facility and a US high-repetition high-intensity laser facility similar to the High-Repetition-Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS), designed and developed by the NIF & PS Program for Advanced Photon Technologies; HAPLS was delivered in June 2017 at the Extreme Light Infrastructure Beamlines Facility in the Czech Republic.
- Strongly supports LaserNetUS, with aggressive upgrades if budgets allow; LLNL’s Jupiter Laser Facility is a member of LaserNetUS, an effort to restore high-intensity laser research in the US
- Do a US fusion plant by 2040.
- Follow strong alternative and innovative merger concepts.
- Construct and design a medium-scale Z-pinch pulse power facility, preferably in partnership with other agencies; LLNL is currently developing a number of advanced diagnoses for the Z machine at Sandia National Laboratories.
- Provides support for a robust public-private partnership program.
‘Even under the ongoing budget scenario,’ said Ma, ‘provision is made to ensure that these activities are supported in some way. New facilities cannot be built, but it is recommended to pursue pre-planned design activities and technology development. ”
The DOEM-sponsored NASEM report, Bring Fusion to the American grid, describes the scientific and technical innovations needed for mergers to play a role in the timely transition to a low-carbon economy by 2050. The NASEM plan requires the production of a pilot plant design by 2028 and the addition of fusion energy to the electric grid in the period 2035 to 2040.
Virtually inexhaustible fusion energy could provide a source of clean, carbon-free baseline electricity for the U.S. grid, the report reads, and plays a key role as the country makes its electricity-generating infrastructure carbon-free. Fusion uses abundant hydrogen fuels and creates no long-lived or high-level radioactive waste. It is inherently safe and ideally replenishes renewable energy sources.