Focused Energy And LLNL Collaborate To Estimate Inertial Laser Fusion Energy Targets

Recently, Focused Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced the signing of a strategic cooperative project agreement, the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) will help Focused Energy to develop and evaluate the isochronous compression target design for inertial fusion energy.
In December 2022, scientists achieved inertial fusion ignition and a target gain greater than 1 at the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF). Before the end of the funding application period for the Department of Energy's landmark public-private fusion development program, the "science break-even" boosted the prospects for inertial fusion energy. Focused Energy was ultimately one of eight fusion research and development companies selected by the U.S. Department of Energy at the end of May, and one of only two using the inertial confinement concept.
Focused Energy was founded in 2021, the same year that the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) recorded a then-record-breaking laser shot that produced 1.3 megajoules of fusion energy.
Scientists at the NIF used multiple laser beams to compress and ignite a spherical target containing deuterium-tritium fuel, as Inertial Fusion Energy's conceptual plan does. But the National Ignition Facility (NIF) was designed for experimental flexibility, not for energy production. In an inertial fusion plant, individual targets would not be housed in cylindrical thermal chambers as in the NIF; instead, Focused Energy would opt for "direct-drive" compression of the target and a high repetition rate. The neutron energy released from D-T fuel fusion will heat the walls of the fusion chamber, and this heat will power a power plant.
Under the new contract, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will use its code and tools to help Focused Energy study and optimize the design of targets to achieve high compression of isometric fuel assemblies needed for rapid ignition of inertial confinement fusion.
Focused Energy says the company's goal is to achieve safe, clean, and virtually inexhaustible energy production through laser fusion in just a few years. The company proposes to accomplish this by combining direct-drive laser fuel compression with "rapid proton ignition.
The synthetic diamond target capsule used by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in the U.S. National Ignition Facility (NIF) was produced in southern Germany by Diamond Materials in collaboration with LLNL and General Atomics.Focused Energy's capsule will be different.The diamond shell of the NIF target will be made of replaced by two layers of plastic and an outer layer of metal. As with the NIF target, the target shell will encase a layer of D-T ice around the D-T gas.
Focused Energy says on its official Web site, "We are developing technology for highly repetitive frequency laser-driven systems to improve reliability and reduce costs through mass production." The company also sells its laser-driven radiation source, which can produce neutron, X-ray and meson beams as a diagnostic tool for industrial users.