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National Ignition Facility
NIF experimental campaign highlighted by Physical Review Letters
Demonstrating the controlled fusing of deuterium and tritium (hydrogen isotopes), such that more energy is produced than is used to create the fusions, is one of the stated goals of the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Two papers published Feb. 5 in Physical Review Letters describe the "high-foot" series of experiments begun last spring, which bring NIF closer to…
Edward Moses to lead Fusion Ignition Science and Applications research effort -- Jeff Wisoff appointed acting principal associate director of NIF & Photon Science
LIVERMORE, Calif. - Edward Moses, the principal associate director for the National Ignition Facility & Photon Science (NIF&PS) Directorate, will be taking a new position to lead a two-year effort to explore the science and applications of ignition, including the commercial prospects for laser inertial fusion energy. In this role, Moses will bring together academia…
Laser fusion experiment yields record energy at LLNL's National Ignition Facility
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- In the early morning hours of Aug.13, Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility (NIF) focused all 192 of its ultra-powerful laser beams on a tiny deuterium-tritium filled capsule. In the nanoseconds that followed, the capsule imploded and released a neutron yield of nearly 3x10 15 , or approximately 8,000 joules of neutron energy -- approximately…
D2T3 to join the ranks at National Ignition Facility
A new employee will soon be added to the roster of those working on Level 2 of the National Ignition Facility's (NIF) Target Bay. His name is D2T3, and his duties will be a bit different than his colleagues'.D2T3 -- named for the hydrogen isotopes that serve as fuel for NIF's fusion targets -- is a radiation-detecting, remote controlled robot. Currently in testing and…
NIF transitions to international science facility; Jeff Atherton named NIF director
LIVERMORE, Calif. - L. Jeffrey (Jeff) Atherton has been named director of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Director Parney Albright announced Monday.Effective May 1, Atherton will take on the role of director as NIF, the world's largest and most energetic laser, transitions to a user facility. Ed Moses will remain the…
National Academies recommend high priority for work on Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- A report issued by the National Research Council highlights the significant impact of successful development of inertial fusion energy (IFE), and recommends priorities for future research in this area. As noted in this National Academies' report, "The potential benefits of inertial confinement fusion energy (abundant fuel, minimal greenhouse gas…
NIF diagnostics described at American Chemical Society meeting
Laboratory researchers gave presentations about the National Ignition Facility's diagnostic equipment in a symposium organized by LLNL's Dawn Shaughnessy at the American Chemical Society's Meeting on Materials for Health and Medicine Aug. 19-23. Carol Velsco and LLNL colleagues described the Radiochemical Analysis of Gaseous Samples (RAGS) apparatus for NIF nuclear…
NIF team wins esteemed plasma physics award
A far-reaching discovery about laser-matter interaction with important implications for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has led to the selection of a team of researchers named recipients of the 2012 John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research. The award, established by the American Physical Society, will be presented to LLNL researchers Debbie Callahan…
National Ignition Facility makes history with record 500 terawatt shot
LIVERMORE, CA. - Fifteen years of work by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF) team paid off on July 5 with a historic record-breaking laser shot. The NIF laser system of 192 beams delivered more than 500 trillion watts (terawatts or TW) of peak power and 1.85 megajoules (MJ) of ultraviolet laser light to its target. Five hundred…
LLNL highlighted in upcoming television lineup
An 8-10-minute segment about NIF and the progress toward ignition is scheduled to air on "CBS Sunday Morning" Sunday, April 1; the program begins at 6 a.m. Pacific time. New York Times technology columnist and CBS News contributor David Pogue and a CBS camera crew visited NIF on March 8 to prepare the segment. Pogue interviewed NIF Director Ed Moses and the crew did…
Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility achieves record laser energy in pursuit of fusion ignition
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world's most energetic laser, surpassed a critical milestone in its efforts to meet one of modern science's greatest challenges: achieving fusion ignition and energy gain in a laboratory setting. NIF's 192 lasers fired in perfect unison, delivering a record 1.875 million joules (MJ) of ultraviolet laser light…
NIF's Operations Support Building awarded LEED certification
The Operations Support Building (OSB) in Bldg. 581 has achieved certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. The OSB, which houses the new Target Alignment System and Final Optics Damage Inspection System alignment labs as well as optics and material handling labs and offices, is the fifth building at LLNL to be…
NIF achieves record ramp-compression pressures
In the first university-based planetary science experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), researchers have gradually compressed a diamond sample to a record pressure of 50 megabars (50 million times Earth's atmospheric pressure). By replicating the conditions believed to exist in the cores of several recently discovered "super-Earths" - extra-solar planets three…
World's largest laser sets records for neutron yield and laser energy
LIVERMORE, Calif. -- The National Nuclear Security Administration's National Ignition Facility (NIF) has set world records for neutron yield from laser-driven fusion fuel capsules and laser energy delivered to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) targets. NIF researchers will report on these and other recent experimental results this week at the annual meeting of the American…
Lab's science and engineering a hit at two-day DC festival
From children and parents getting their first understanding of fusion ignition, to students and educators looking for ways to meet the planet's energy needs - the Lab's booth proved to be a popular spot at the inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival Saturday and Sunday in Washington D.C.. More than 10,000 visitors stopped by the Lab's booth, during the two-day…
LLNL to participate in Science Expo on the National Mall in Washington DC
On October 23 and 24, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will join hundreds of other research institutions, universities, high-tech industries, professional societies, museums and science centers in a two-day expo on the National Mall in Washington, DC, held as part of the first-ever USA Science and Engineering Festival. More than 750 exhibits, spanning…
National Ignition Facility wins prestigious 2010 project of the year award
LIVERMORE, CA - Citing groundbreaking technical achievement and exemplary management, the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the first laser expected to achieve fusion ignition in a laboratory setting, has been awarded the Project Management Institute's (PMI's) 2010 Project of the Year. The award, presented Saturday during a special ceremony in Washington, D.C., recognizes…
NNSA and LLNL announce first successful integrated experiment at NIF
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) today announced that the National Ignition Facility (NIF) recently completed its first integrated ignition experiment. In the test, the 192-beam laser system fired 1 megajoule of laser energy into its first cryogenically layered capsule, raising the…
