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The lasers at NIF provide both the startup energy and confinement. They can't just shut them off because then they would lose confinement.
by dralley 4y ago
The lasers at NIF provide both the startup energy and confinement. They can't just shut them off because then they would lose confinement.
- danbruc 4y agoDoes the laser radiation really contribute [significantly] to the confinement? I always assumed once the energy has been deposited into the outer layer of the target, it is the material of the target doing all the work, i.e. heating and confining the fuel.
- donquixote25 4y agoThe laser energy is converted to x-rays by the gold cylinder. But the cylinder only has a conversion ratio of 10~20 percent, so the amount of energy that gets deposited on the capsule is much lower.
- someweirdperson 4y agoCan they harvest the (electrical?) power to keep the laser running from whatver form of energy the fusion provides (radiation, heat?)?
- noobermin 4y agoNo. They are not near a power plant yet.
- Robotbeat 4y agoThis is not how it works at all. The confinement is produced for a tiny fraction of a second by the inertia of the fuel pellet casing which is driven inward by ablation from a powerful pulse of light. It’s the same basic mechanism as an H-bomb, except unlike an H-bomb, this uses lasers instead of a fission (A-bomb) trigger. And is MUCH smaller.
- aj7 4y agoYou left out a whole step. The X-rays.
- Robotbeat 4y agoBecause NIF can also potentially use the UV lasers directly, without converting to X-rays in the Hohlraum. Direct drive would be more practical for an actual power plant version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_Inertial_Fusion_Energy#Mercury https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_Inertial_Fusion_Energy#M... So instead of “x-rays” I left it as the more general “light.”