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60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
George H. Miley, Heinrich Hora
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 75 | Number 7 | October 2019 | Pages 575-580
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2019.1622970
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The importance of the development of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) was highlighted with the award of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics to Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland. CPA laser physics opens the way to exciting new advances in laser applications including laser fusion. As noted in this paper, its application to laser fusion enables ultrahigh power levels for ignition of laser fusion systems without requiring thermal pressures and millions of degrees centigrade. Instead, nonthermal pressures are driven by nonlinear force to create ultrahigh picosecond acceleration of plasma blocks. This paper discusses the exciting possibility of using CPA with block ignition to provide a new route for burning the environmentally clean fusion of hydrogen–boron-11 (HB-11) fuel.