Inertial Confinement Fusion

The energy that can, in principle, be obtained from the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form helium is enormous; the hydrogen (actually deuterium) in seawater would provide an energy many orders of magnitude greater than that in all fossil fuels combined. Unfortunately, harnessing fusion for commercial power production has proven elusive. One approach is based on trying to scale down thermonuclear explosions to a sufficiently small size that can be routinely used in a power plant. In such a process the inertia of the fuel itself provides the confinement necessary to maintain the thermonuclear reaction for long enough that more energy is produced than was needed to start the reaction: hence the name, „Inertial- Confinement Fusion“. This book analyzes the progress that has been made in indirect-drive inertial-confinement fusion, in which energy is delivered to the fuel in two steps: first high-intensity lasers are used to generate x-rays, then these are focused on a target to heat it to ignition. Much of the material in this book was previously classified by DOE. Intended as a reference guide to researchers, the book also contains sufficient background and introductory material that it can serve as an introduction to the field for graduate students and researchers new to the field. Lindl is the 1993 recipient of the Edward Teller Medal in in Inertial Fusion and of the 1994 DOE E. O. Lawrence Award.