scholarly journals The comeback of shock waves in inertial fusion energy

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shalom Eliezer ◽  
Jose Maria Martinez Val
Keyword(s):  
Shock Wave ◽  
Shock Waves ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Fast Ignition ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Laser Plasma Interaction ◽  
Target Design ◽  
Wave Collision

AbstractThe shock waves in laser plasma interaction have played an important role in the study of inertial fusion energy (IFE) since the 1970's and perhaps earlier. The interaction of laser, or any other high power beam, induced shock waves with matter was one of the foundations of the target design in IFE. Even the importance of shock wave collision was studied and its importance forgotten. In due course, the shock waves were taken as granted and became “second fiddle” in IFE scenario. The analysis of the shock wave in the context of IFE is revived in this paper. At the forefront of the past decade the concept of fast ignition was introduced. The different ideas of fast ignition are summarized with special emphasis on shock wave fast ignition. The ignition is achieved by launching a shock wave during the final stages of the implosion. In this paper, a possible instability in the propagation of the igniting shock wave is analyzed. The idea of combining the fast ignition fusion with an impact shock wave is suggested and analyzed. This is achieved by launching a shock wave by an accelerated foil during the final stage of the implosion in order to ignite the compressed fuel. In this scheme, like other fast ignition schemes, a significant reduction of the driver energy in comparison with standard IFE scenarios is required for the same high gain fusion.

scholarly journals Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy: an introduction to the first special edition

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200006 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Norreys ◽  
C. Ridgers ◽  
K. Lancaster ◽  
M. Koepke ◽  
G. Tynan
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Energy Part ◽  
Confinement Fusion ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Basic Studies

A European consortium of 15 laboratories across nine nations have worked together under the EUROFusion Enabling Research grants for the past decade with three principle objectives. These are: (a) investigating obstacles to ignition on megaJoule-class laser facilities; (b) investigating novel alternative approaches to ignition, including basic studies for fast ignition (both electron and ion-driven), auxiliary heating, shock ignition etc.; and (c) developing technologies that will be required in the future for a fusion reactor. The Hooke discussion meeting in March 2020 provided an opportunity to reflect on the progress made in inertial confinement fusion research world-wide to date. This first edition of two special issues seeks to identify paths forward to achieve high fusion energy gain. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)’.

Shock ignition target design for inertial fusion energy

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 042701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Schmitt ◽  
Jason W. Bates ◽  
Steven P. Obenschain ◽  
Steven T. Zalesak ◽  
David E. Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Target Design ◽  
Shock Ignition

scholarly journals Ion Fast Ignition-Establishing a Scientific Basis for Inertial Fusion Energy --- Final Report

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Burnite Stephens ◽  
◽  
Mark N. Foord ◽  
Mingsheng Wei ◽  
Farhat N. Beg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Fast Ignition ◽  
Scientific Basis ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Final Report

scholarly journals Direct drive with the argon fluoride laser as a path to high fusion gain with sub-megajoule laser energy

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200031 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Obenschain ◽  
A. J. Schmitt ◽  
J. W. Bates ◽  
M. F. Wolford ◽  
M. C. Myers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Beam ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Coupling Efficiency ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Naval Research ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Argon Fluoride

Argon fluoride (ArF) is currently the shortest wavelength laser that can credibly scale to the energy and power required for high gain inertial fusion. ArF's deep ultraviolet light and capability to provide much wider bandwidth than other contemporary inertial confinement fusion (ICF) laser drivers would drastically improve the laser target coupling efficiency and enable substantially higher pressures to drive an implosion. Our radiation hydrodynamics simulations indicate gains greater than 100 are feasible with a sub-megajoule ArF driver. Our laser kinetics simulations indicate that the electron beam-pumped ArF laser can have intrinsic efficiencies of more than 16%, versus about 12% for the next most efficient krypton fluoride excimer laser. We expect at least 10% ‘wall plug' efficiency for delivering ArF light to target should be achievable using solid-state pulsed power and efficient electron beam transport to the laser gas that was demonstrated with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's Electra facility. These advantages could enable the development of modest size and lower cost fusion power plant modules. This would drastically change the present view on inertial fusion energy as being too expensive and the power plant size too large. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)'.

scholarly journals Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy: an introduction to the second edition

2020 ◽  
Vol 379 (2189) ◽  
pp. 20200028
Author(s):  
Peter A. Norreys ◽  
Christopher Ridgers ◽  
Kate Lancaster ◽  
Mark Koepke ◽  
George Tynan
Keyword(s):  
Inertial Confinement Fusion ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Electrical Power ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Inertial Confinement ◽  
Fusion Research ◽  
Confinement Fusion

Part II of this special edition contains the remaining 11 papers arising from a Hooke discussion meeting held in March 2020 devoted to exploring the current status of inertial confinement fusion research worldwide and its application to electrical power generation in the future, via the development of an international inertial fusion energy programme. It builds upon increased coordination within Europe over the past decade by researchers supported by the EUROFusion Enabling Research grants, as well as collaborations that have arisen naturally with some of America's and Asia's leading researchers, both in the universities and national laboratories. The articles are devoted to informing an update to the European roadmap for an inertial fusion energy demonstration reactor, building upon the commonalities between the magnetic and inertial fusion communities’ approaches to fusion energy. A number of studies devoted to understanding the physics barriers to ignition on current facilities are then presented. The special issue concludes with four state-of-the-art articles describing recent significant advances in fast ignition inertial fusion research. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 2)’.

scholarly journals A simplified economic model for inertial fusion

2020 ◽  
Vol 378 (2184) ◽  
pp. 20200053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Hawker
Keyword(s):  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Energy Yield ◽  
Levelized Cost Of Electricity ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
Fusion Power ◽  
Target Cost ◽  
Energy Part

A simple model for the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of an inertial fusion power plant is developed. The model has 14 parameters. These have been designed to be technology agnostic, such that the model may be applied broadly to all variants of inertial fusion. It is also designed to allow easy use of proxies from existing technology. The variables related most intimately to the physics challenges of inertial fusion, such as gain and target cost, are treated as parameters such that requirements can be found without bringing complex physics into the model. A Monte Carlo approach is taken to explore the parameter space. The most important conclusion is that a combination of high gain (greater than 500) and high fusion energy yield per shot (greater than 5 GJ) together appear to unlock more cost competitive designs than those in the existing literature. Designs with LCOE as low as $25/MWh are found with optimistic but not obviously unrealistic inputs. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Prospects for high gain inertial fusion energy (part 1)'.

scholarly journals Review on high repetition rate and mass production of the cryogenic targets for laser IFE

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
I.V. Aleksandrova ◽  
E.R. Koresheva
Keyword(s):  
Mass Production ◽  
Repetition Rate ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
High Gain ◽  
High Repetition Rate ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Hydrogen Fuel ◽  
High Repetition

In inertial fusion energy (IFE) research, a considerable attention has recently been focused on the issue of large target fabrication for MJ-class laser facilities. The ignition and high-gain target designs require a condensed uniform layer of hydrogen fuel on the inside of a spherical shell. In this report, we discuss the current status and further trends in the area of developing the layering techniques intended to produce ignition, and layering techniques proposed to high repetition rate and mass production of IFE targets.

Present status of fast ignition realization experiment and inertial fusion energy development

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 104021 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Azechi ◽  
K. Mima ◽  
S. Shiraga ◽  
S. Fujioka ◽  
H. Nagatomo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Present Status ◽  
Fusion Energy ◽  
Fast Ignition ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
Inertial Fusion ◽  
Inertial Fusion Energy ◽  
Fusion Energy Development
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