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Fusion energy: Progress, partnerships, and the path to deployment
Over the past decade, fusion energy has moved decisively from scientific aspiration toward a credible pathway to a new energy technology. Thanks to long-term federal support, we have significantly advanced our fundamental understanding of plasma physics—the behavior of the superheated gases at the heart of fusion devices. This knowledge will enable the creation and control of fusion fuel under conditions required for future power plants. Our progress is exemplified by breakthroughs at the National Ignition Facility and the Joint European Torus.
Bruno M. Van Wonterghem, John R. Murray, D. Ralph Speck, John H. Campbell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 26 | Number 3 | November 1994 | Pages 702-707
Inertial Confinement Experiment | Proceedings of the Eleventh Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy New Orleans, Louisiana June 19-23, 1994 | doi.org/10.13182/FST94-A40239
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Beamlet is a full scale single beam prototype laser system, built to demonstrate the laser technology and performance of the 192 beam National Ignition Facility (NIF) fusion laser driver. Both laser systems apply multipass amplifier architectures. By passing the beam four times through the large aperture amplifier sections, the small signal gain during the first few passes is used efficiently to reduce expensive staged amplifier chains. The beamlet prototype laser integrates results of development programs for large aperture components: large aperture optical switch, polarizers, 2 × 2 multisegment amplifiers and new pulse generation and pre-amplification techniques. We report on performance test results of the recently completed 1ω-laser section of Beamlet.