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August 24–27, 2026
Dallas, TX|Hilton Anatole
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Fusion Science and Technology
August 2026
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Inertia and LLNL accelerate fusion fuel manufacturing
Cut-away schematic and example radiograph of the fusion fuel capsule, showing the outer spherical carbon shell and the D-T fuel “ice” layer with a gas core. For Inertia, this capsule has a diameter of about 4–5 mm. Formation of a sufficiently smooth D-T ice layer is crucial for ignition. (Image: Inertia)
Inertia Enterprises and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed a manufacturing process for the thin layer of cryogenically frozen deuterium-tritium (D-T) used in its target design, reducing production time from days to hours, according to the company.
The advance makes target fueling cheaper and reduces the amount of tritium that Inertia would need to hold at a pilot plant, which lowers material handling costs, regulatory burden, and dependence on scarce fuel inventories.
Gilbert W. Collins IV, Mike Jaris, Dylan Dahlke, Mi Do, Shreyas Kotian, Nika Sabouri, Alex Haid, Christopher McGuffey, Andrew Forsman, Mario J.-E. Manuel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 82 | Number 5 | July 2026 | Pages 986-995
Research Article | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2025.2521878
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We demonstrate an automated, space-efficient, low-cost, and rep-ratable setup that delivered complex targets to the target chamber center (TCC) and optimized their position along the laser focal axis at GALADRIEL: the General Atomics LAboratory for Developing Rep-rated Instrumentation and Experiments with Lasers. The focal range optimization and directional orientation (FRODO) tool used a continuous-wave laser to create a focal spot on the target and a camera to reimage the spot using a collinear optical path. A tape drive system spooled an aperture tape with periodically spaced two-photon polymerization (2PP) targets through the TCC, and FRODO tracked the patterns and intensity in the reflected light to determine the locations of apertures and targets, deliver the target to the TCC, and then move them to the position of best focus with accuracy smaller than the Rayleigh length of the 1-TW drive laser. Ablation of 2PP foams on the aperture tape produced nearly twice the >1-KeV X-ray energy as shots on plain Cu tape.