National Ignition Facility

Dr. Evil would have loved this. When he was talking about getting some frickin’ laser beams on the sharks, he might have had something like this in mind – except that the sharks would have been totally superfluous.

Just a small distance from San Francisco is the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Lots of cool stuff goes on here all the time; it’s almost as cool as the stuff that has historically taken place in New Mexico at Sandia Labs and Alamogordo (no a-bombs however!).

Now we find out that one of the large projects spoken about long ago, and then seemingly forgotten, has come into being. It is the world’s largest laser system, and will make research possible that was never available to scientists before.

from ITWire

The world’s largest and most energetic laser system was just dedicated on Friday, May 29, 2009, at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The mission of the National Ignition Facility is to better national security, provide breakthroughs in astrophysics, and create fusion energy.

The news release “Dedication of world’s largest laser marks the dawn of a new era” from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) states that the new laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device is called the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system.

The NIF  “… consists of 192 laser beams that will focus nearly two million joules of energy and create temperatures and pressures that exist in the cores of stars and giant planets. By harnessing the massive power generated by its lasers, NIF will be able to create conditions and conduct a wide range of experiments never before possible on earth.”

The LLNL website states, “Let there be light.”

The NIF lab is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The laser system with the Livermore, California-based facility uses powerful lasers to heat and compress hydrogen fuel so that it eventually causes a nuclear fusion reaction to take place.

The scientists working at the NIF lab hope to create a single 500 terawatt (TW) controlled explosion of radiation (light) that reaches the target from numerous directions at the same time.

The NIF has a threefold mission: national security, astrophysics research, and fusion energy.

The three primary goals of the National Ignition Facility is security, research, and fusion energy genration.

Specifically, they are:

(1)    “… to serve as a key component of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Stockpile Stewardship Program to ensure the safety and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent without the need for nuclear testing.”

Tom D’Agostino, administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), stated that its classified mission is one of national security.

D’Agostino stated: “NIF, a cornerstone of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s effort to maintain our nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing, will play a vital role in reshaping national security in the 21st century. This one of a kind facility is the only place in the world that is capable of providing some of the most critical technical means to safely maintain the viability of the nation’s nuclear stockpile”

(2)    “… groundbreaking scientific discoveries in planetary science and astrophysics.”

These mostly unclassified activities will help to simulate conditions on the boundary of black holes (what are called event horizons), inside supernovas, and in the cores of giant planets.

The LLNL article states, “NIF will help unlock the secrets of the cosmos.”

(3)    “… energy independence …”

The experiments of the NIF will help to develop fusion energy. Its lasers will collide hydrogen nuclei together in order to produce a controlled fusion reaction.

Edward Moses, director of the NIF, stated, “More energy will be produced by this ‘ignition’ process than the amount of laser energy required to start it. This is the long-sought goal of ‘energy gain’ that has been the goal of fusion researchers for more than half a century. NIF’s success will be a scientific breakthrough of historic significance – the first demonstration of fusion ignition in a laboratory setting, duplicating on Earth the processes that power the stars.”

The actual construction of the National Ignition Facility was certified complete on March, 31, 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy. In May 2009, the first target experiments involving all of the 192 lasers were performed. The first ignition is scheduled in 2010.

Additional information on the National Ignition Facility is provided at the LLNL NIF’s The Power of Light.

Pretty heady stuff. This is the kind of research that any science geek (or is that science wonk) would love to be in the middle of.

The ignition of a (controlled) fusion reaction is something I haven’t seen referred to in quite some time. Though I haven’t been keeping up with all the science journals, the last piece I saw about this was in Omni magazine, and we know how long it’s been since that was found on the newsstand.

For a very long time, the idea of controlled fusion in the laboratory was abandoned, as the only means to contain it, a magnetic bottle, was considered beyond the capabilities of current technology. The fact that this is being spoken again means that either another idea has come into view, or the abilities of containment in a magnetic field have been improved greatly. I haven’t been able to find anything specific in my search today, but it could be forthcoming after being demonstrated in Livermore.

By the way, for those who don’t already know, the Livermore Labs is the old stomping grounds of Dr. Steven Chu, our current Secretary of Energy. He was the director when President Obama tapped him to lead the nation’s search for energy independence.

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My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.- Indira Gandhi

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