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If only they were shooting a fuel pellet: they are instead shooting a hohlraum, a precision-engineered piece of gold and that, in turn, shoots the fuel pellet w
by simiones 4y ago
If only they were shooting a fuel pellet: they are instead shooting a hohlraum, a precision-engineered piece of gold and that, in turn, shoots the fuel pellet with X-Rays, acting as a kind of aiming/synchronization device. The hohlraum is destroyed in the process, and currently costs millions of dollars to build a new one.
- philipkglass 4y agoThe hohlraum is destroyed in the process, and currently costs millions of dollars to build a new one. Hohlraums are expensive but not millions of dollars. This 2004 report puts the cost at about $2500 each (still far too expensive for a power plant of course) while examining ways to get them under $1 each. "Cost-Effective Target Fabrication For Inertial Fusion Energy" https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/828518 https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/828518