Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with fuel. The targets are small pellets, typically containing deuterium (2 H) and tritium (3 H).

LIFE, short for Laser Inertial Fusion Energy, was a fusion energy effort run at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory between 2008 and 2013. LIFE aimed to develop the technologies necessary to convert the laser-driven inertial confinement fusion concept being developed in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) into a practical commercial power ...

NIF’s laser beams can create nuclear fusion in the laboratory by generating the same kinds of temperatures and pressures that exist in the cores of stars and giant planets and inside nuclear weapons (see Anatomy of a NIF Shot).

Dec 1, 2020 · One of the main technology branches for demonstrating fusion power is Laser Confined Nuclear Fusion, LCNF which involves rapidly compressing a D-T (Deuterium-Tritium) fueled target pellet using some of the world’s most powerful lasers.

Jan 21, 2025 · A nuclear fusion reactor in China, dubbed the "artificial sun," has broken its own record to bring humanity one step closer to near-limitless clean energy.

Jun 20, 2024 · A laser fusion power plant would use high-powered lasers to create continual fusion ignition reactions from a steady stream of hydrogen pellets. These pellets, which contain the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, would be fired into the plant at a rate of approximately 600 per minute.

Jul 26, 2023 · Shuji Nakamura, a Nobel Prize awardee in the field of Physics, is the latest entrant in the energy domain looking to generate power using nuclear fusion.

Jan 8, 2024 · At 1:03:50 a.m., NIF’s 192 powerful laser beams had plowed 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy onto a small gold cylinder, which converted that ultraviolet radiation into powerful X-rays that...

Fusion ignition occurs when the heating power from alpha particles produced by fusion reactions in the hot spot at the center of the target capsule overcomes the cooling effects of x-ray losses, electron conduction, and implosion expansion.

Aug 27, 2021 · Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s flagship laser facility shattered their own record earlier this month by generating more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power for a fraction...