First Implosion Experiments with Cryogenic Thermonuclear Fuel on the National Ignition Facility

First Implosion Experiments with Cryogenic Thermonuclear Fuel on the National Ignition Facility PDF Author:
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Languages : en
Pages : 33

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First Implosion Experiments with Cryogenic Thermonuclear Fuel on the National Ignition Facility

First Implosion Experiments with Cryogenic Thermonuclear Fuel on the National Ignition Facility PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Progress Toward Ignition on the National Ignition Facility

Progress Toward Ignition on the National Ignition Facility PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 6

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The principal approach to ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is indirect drive. A schematic of an ignition target is shown in Figure 1. The laser beams are focused through laser entrance holes at each end of a high-Z cylindrical case, or hohlraum. The lasers irradiate the hohlraum walls producing x-rays that ablate and compress the fuel capsule in the center of the hohlraum. The hohlraum is made of Au, U, or other high-Z material. For ignition targets, the hohlraum is H".5 cm diameter by H" cm in length. The hohlraum absorbs the incident laser energy producing x-rays for symmetrically imploding the capsule. The fuel capsule is a H"--Mm-diameter spherical shell of CH, Be, or C filled with DT fuel. The DT fuel is in the form of a cryogenic layer on the inside of the capsule. X-rays ablate the outside of the capsule, producing a spherical implosion. The imploding shell stagnates in the center, igniting the DT fuel. NIC has overseen installation of all of the hardware for performing ignition experiments, including commissioning of approximately 50 diagnostic systems in NIF. The diagnostics measure scattered optical light, x-rays from the hohlraum over the energy range from 100 eV to 500 keV, and x-rays, neutrons, and charged particles from the implosion. An example of a diagnostic is the Magnetic Recoil Spectrometer (MRS) built by a collaboration of scientists from MIT, UR-LLE, and LLNL shown in Figure 2. MRS measures the neutron spectrum from the implosion, providing information on the neutron yield and areal density that are metrics of the quality of the implosion. Experiments on NIF extend ICF research to unexplored regimes in target physics. NIF can produce more than 50 times the laser energy and more than 20 times the power of any previous ICF facility. Ignition scale hohlraum targets are three to four times larger than targets used at smaller facilities, and the ignition drive pulses are two to five times longer. The larger targets and longer pulse lengths produce unique plasma conditions for laser-plasma instabilities that could reduce hohlraum coupling efficiency. Initial experiments have demonstrated efficient coupling of laser energy to x-rays. X-ray drive greater than 300 eV has been measured in gas-filled ignition hohlraum and shows the expected scaling with laser energy and hohlraum scale size. Experiments are now optimizing capsule implosions for ignition. Ignition conditions require assembling the fuel with sufficient density and temperature for thermonuclear burn. X-rays ablate the outside of the capsule, accelerating and spherically compressing the capsule for assembling the fuel. The implosion stagnates, heating the central core and producing a hot spot that ignites and burns the surrounding fuel. The four main characteristics of the implosion are shell velocity, central hot spot shape, fuel adiabat, and mix. Experiments studying these four characteristics of implosions are used to optimize the implosion. Integrated experiments using cryogenic fuel layer experiments demonstrate the quality of the implosion as the optimization experiments progress. The final compressed fuel conditions are diagnosed by measuring the x-ray emission from the hot core and the neutrons and charged particles produced in the fusion reactions. Metrics of the quality of the implosion are the neutron yield and the shell areal density, as well as the size and shape of the core. The yield depends on the amount of fuel in the hot core and its temperature and is a gauge of the energy coupling to the fuel. The areal density, the density of the fuel times its thickness, diagnoses the fuel assembly, which is measured using the fraction of neutrons that are down scattered passing through the dense shell. The yield and fraction of down scattered neutrons, or shell rho-r, from the cryogenic layered implosions are shown in Figure 3. The different sets of data represent results after a series of implosion optimization experiments. Both yield and areal density show significant increases as a result of the optimization. The experimental Ignition Threshold Factor (ITFX) is a measure of the progress toward ignition. ITFX is analogous to the Lawson Criterion in Magnetic Fusion. Implosions have improved by over a factor of 50 since the first cryogenic layered experiments were done in September 2010. This increase is a measure of the progress made toward the ignition goal in the past year. Optimization experiments are planned in the coming year for continued improvement in implosion performance to achieve the ignition goal. In summary, NIF has made significant progress toward ignition in the 30 months since project completion. Diagnostics and all of the supporting equipment are in place for ignition experiments. The Ignition Campaign is under way as a national collaborative effort of all the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) science laboratories as well as international partners.

First High-convergence Cryogenic Implosion in a Near-vacuum Hohlraum

First High-convergence Cryogenic Implosion in a Near-vacuum Hohlraum PDF Author:
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Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Recent experiments on the National Ignition Facility [M.J. Edwards et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 070501 (2013)] demonstrate that utilizing a near-vacuum hohlraum (low pressure gas-filled) is a viable option for high convergence cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) layered capsule implosions. This is made possible by using a dense ablator (high-density carbon), which shortens the drive duration needed to achieve high convergence: a measured 40% higher hohlraum efficiency than typical gas-filled hohlraums, which requires less laser energy going into the hohlraum, and an observed better symmetry control than anticipated by standard hydrodynamics simulations. The first series of near-vacuum hohlraum experiments culminated in a 6.8 ns, 1.2 MJ laser pulse driving a 2-shock, high adiabat ([alpha] ~ 3.5) cryogenic DT layered high density carbon capsule. This resulted in one of the best performances so far on the NIF relative to laser energy, with a measured primary neutron yield of 1.8 X 1015 neutrons, with 20% calculated alpha heating at convergence ~27X.

Cryogenic Thermonuclear Fuel Implosions on the National Ignition Facility

Cryogenic Thermonuclear Fuel Implosions on the National Ignition Facility PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy

An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309270812
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
The potential for using fusion energy to produce commercial electric power was first explored in the 1950s. Harnessing fusion energy offers the prospect of a nearly carbon-free energy source with a virtually unlimited supply of fuel. Unlike nuclear fission plants, appropriately designed fusion power plants would not produce the large amounts of high-level nuclear waste that requires long-term disposal. Due to these prospects, many nations have initiated research and development (R&D) programs aimed at developing fusion as an energy source. Two R&D approaches are being explored: magnetic fusion energy (MFE) and inertial fusion energy (IFE). An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy describes and assesses the current status of IFE research in the United States; compares the various technical approaches to IFE; and identifies the scientific and engineering challenges associated with developing inertial confinement fusion (ICF) in particular as an energy source. It also provides guidance on an R&D roadmap at the conceptual level for a national program focusing on the design and construction of an inertial fusion energy demonstration plant.

The Physics of Inertial Fusion

The Physics of Inertial Fusion PDF Author: Stefano Atzeni
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780191524059
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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This book is on inertial confinement fusion, an alternative way to produce electrical power from hydrogen fuel by using powerful lasers or particle beams. It involves the compression of tiny amounts (micrograms) of fuel to thousand times solid density and pressures otherwise existing only in the centre of stars. Thanks to advances in laser technology, it is now possible to produce such extreme states of matter in the laboratory. Recent developments have boosted laser intensities again with new possibilities for laser particle accelerators, laser nuclear physics, and fast ignition of fusion targets. This is a reference book for those working on beam plasma physics, be it in the context of fundamental research or applications to fusion energy or novel ultra-bright laser sources. The book combines quite different areas of physics: beam target interaction, dense plasmas, hydrodynamic implosion and instabilities, radiative energy transfer as well as fusion reactions. Particular attention is given to simple and useful modelling, including dimensional analysis and similarity solutions. Both authors have worked in this field for more than 20 years. They want to address in particular those teaching this topic to students and all those interested in understanding the technical basis.

An Introduction to Inertial Confinement Fusion

An Introduction to Inertial Confinement Fusion PDF Author: Susanne Pfalzner
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420011847
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Newcomers to the field of inertial confinement fusion (ICF) often have difficulty establishing a clear picture of the overall field. The reason for this is because, while there are many books devoted to special topics within the field, there is none that provides an overview of the field as a whole. An Introduction to Inertial Confinement Fusion fi

The Next Generation of Fusion Energy Research

The Next Generation of Fusion Energy Research PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Science and Technology (2007). Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear energy
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Advances In Laser Interaction With Matter And Inertial Fusion

Advances In Laser Interaction With Matter And Inertial Fusion PDF Author: G Velarde
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814545686
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 714

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This book collects together theoretical and experimental contributions on laser-plasma interaction and dynamics, together with the physics of laser fusion, coronal, hydrodynamics (instabilities), radiation hydrodynamics and atomic physics. Theory and experiments are reviewed. In addition to diagnostics, indirect drive modeling and experiments are reported, as well as approaches of direct drive foam-buffered targets for uniform compression. New ideas on triggering ignition and use of advanced fuels for neutronless fusion are also reported. The short-pulse ultra-intense laser interaction is extensively represented both theoretically and experimentally. The two major laser-fusion ignition projected facilities (2 MJ class). National Ignition Facility (NIF) / USA and Laser Megajoule (LMJ) / France, are also disscused.

Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 2013: Dept. of Energy FY 2013 justifications

Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 2013: Dept. of Energy FY 2013 justifications PDF Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Federal aid to energy development
Languages : en
Pages : 1096

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