Breakthrough at the NIF paves the way to inertial fusion energy

¹ Dipartimento SBAI, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, 00161, Roma, Italy
² CELIA, Universite´ de Bordeaux–CNRS–CEA, UMR 5107, 33405 Talence, France
³ AWE, Aldermaston, Reading RG7 4PR, UK
⁴ Centre for Intertial Fusion Studies, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
⁵ Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 56124 Pisa, Italy
⁶ LULI - CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Palaiseau cedex, France
⁷ CEA-DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon, France and ALP, F-33114 Le Barp, France
⁸ Instituto Fusión Nuclear “Guillermo Velarde” Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28006 Madrid, Spain
⁹ Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Oxfordshire OX11 OQX, UK
¹⁰ Institute of Plasma Physics and Lasers, Hellenic Mediterranean University Research Centre, 74100 Rethymno, Greece
¹¹ Department of Electronic Engineering, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 73133 Chania, Greece
¹² ELI-Beamlines Center, Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 25241 Dolni Brezany, Czech Republic
¹³ Centro de Laseres Pulsados (CLPU), Parque Cientifico, E-37185 Villamayor, Salamanca, Spain
¹⁴ Laser-Plasma Chair at the University of Salamanca, E-37185 Villamayor, Salamanca, Spain

Abstract

In August 2021, at the National Ignition Facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the USA, a 1.35 MJ fusion yield was obtained. It is a demonstration of the validity of the Inertial Confinement Fusion approach to achieve energy-efficient thermonuclear fusion in the laboratory. It is a historical milestone that the scientific community has achieved after decades of efforts.