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Strong performances across the board
Craig Piercycpiercy@ans.org
Another year, another stellar performance by America’s nuclear plants. We’ve come to expect high capacity factors, and it’s a credit to the men and women of the profession. They’ve made routine something that was unimaginable not so long ago.
The decadal challenge for the nuclear enterprise now is to maintain this high level of operational excellence for the current fleet, while at the same time ushering in a new generation of technologies at scale. It will be a big job—but one that seems more and more likely with each passing day.
P. M. Burns, M. Myers, J. D. Sethian, M. F. Wolford, J. L. Giuliani, S. P. Obenschain, R. H. Lehmberg, S. Searles, M. Friedman, F. Hegeler, R. Jaynes, R. V. Smilgys
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | October 2007 | Pages 445-453
Technical Paper | The Technology of Fusion Energy - Inertial Fusion Technology: Targets and Chambers | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1528
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Electra laser system is currently being developed at the Naval Research Laboratory to serve as a test bed for laser driver technologies needed for an inertial fusion energy power plant. The main amplifier has produced 730 J of laser light operating in an oscillator mode. These results as well as advancement of the laser physics, electron beam deposition, and the pulse power technologies give us projections of >7% wall plug efficiency for an IFE system. The Electra main amplifier in oscillator configuration has run continuously at 1 Hz, 2.5 Hz, and 5 Hz for multi-thousand shot runs.This paper will discuss recent results of the Electra program at the Naval Research Laboratory including integrating the Electra main amplifier into a complete laser amplifier system. Issues addressed will include development paths for the cathode, window coating, and foil longevity to attain the durability required for a fusion power plant.