Laser Fusion: An Old Dream Nears Realization

E. Michael Campbell and Ralph R. Jacobs, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

When completed in 2002, the National Ignition Facility will culminate more than a decade of research on laser ignition: the controlled implosion of a small, hydrogen-isotope-filled target by laser beams of sufficient energy and quality to create inertially confined fusion -- a process comparable to that at the center of the sun. The program will then set out to fulfill its ultimate civilian goal -- creating a low-cost, inexhaustible supply of electric power through repeated, sustained laser ignition and fusion energy gain.