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2026 Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Second round of Launch Pad selections includes eight newcomers
The National Reactor Innovation Center at Idaho National Laboratory has announced 13 project selections across 12 companies for the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad, a Department of Energy–led program that integrates reactor and fuel facility authorization, testing, and deployment support for private nuclear developers.
The Launch Pad emerged from the Reactor Pilot Program and Fuel Line Pilot Program.
According to INL, projects selected include reactor development and nuclear fuel cycle advancements, including fabrication, enrichment, and conversion technologies.
C. W. Hartman, J. L. Eddleman, J. H. Hammer, B. G. Logan, H. S. McLean, R. W. Moir, A. W. Molvik
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 776-786
Inertial Confinement Fusion | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946936
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Compact Torus Accelerator (CTA), under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, offers the promise of a low-cost, high-efficiency, high-energy, high-power-density driver for ICF and MICF (Magnetically Insulated ICF) type fusion systems. A CTA with 100 MJ driver capacitor bank energy is predicted to deliver ~30 MJ CT kinetic energy to a 1 cm2 target in several nanoseconds for a power density of ~1016 watts/cm2. The estimated cost of delivered energy is ~3$/Joule. We discuss indirect-drive ICF with a DT fusion energy gain Q = 70 for a total yield of 2 GJ. A reactor system for CT injection, target emplacement, containment, energy recovery, and breeding will be described. The CTA naturally lends itself as a driver for MICF where an energetic (≈100 MJ) CT is injected into a containment sphere generating shock heating which initiates a magnetically insulated DT burn with refueling for Q ≃ 70 and a fusion yield of 7 GJ. The containment sphere, which is chosen to be several 14 MeV neutron mfp's thick, is vaporized and heated by fusion neutrons and expands into the main reactor containment chamber to form the working gas for direct electrical energy recovery through an MHD generator cycle. Application of the MICF system to spaceship propulsion will also be discussed.