Laser driven inertial fusion: status and perspective
Stefano Atzeni
Dipartimento SBAI, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”
Thermonuclear ignition of an inertially confined deuterium-tritium mixture requires the creation of a "hot spot" with sufficiently high temperature, pressure and confinement parameter, as well as adequate compression of the surrounding main fuel. In the standard ICF scheme such a hot spot is generated as a result of a high-velocity, directly- or indirectly- laser-driven implosion. In this talk, I will first briefly review the ignition requirements, outlining the conflicting requirements of high implosion velocity, implosion stability and implosion symmetry. I will then briefly discuss current achievements, which lead to the August 2021 NIF shot “at the threshold of fusion ignition”. I will conclude by presenting my personal view on the future of laser-driven ICF research. Conventional indirect-drive and direct-drive schemes, as well as the alternative shock-ignition scheme will be considered.
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Research activity on laser-driven inertial fusion at ENEA-Centro Ricerche Frascati
Fabrizio Consoli
ENEA, Centro Ricerche Frascati, FSN-FUSPHY-SDL
Since the sixties, the research group operating within the “Laboratorio Gas Ionizzati of CNEN (now ENEA)” performed pioneering experiments on laser-generated plasmas and inertial confinement fusion, under the management of U. Ascoli-Bartoli before, and then of A. Caruso. Significant achievements, internationally renowned, were obtained both on the experimental and on the theoretical point of view. Today, the Task-Force INER is the formal structure, within the ENEA - Fusion and Nuclear Safety Department, dealing with researches on laser-driven inertial fusion. Both theoretical and experimental approaches are applied, and experiments are performed both with the ABC laser operating in ENEA-Frascati and also with other laser facilities in Italy and abroad. These activities are usually performed in close collaboration with the main international Institutions operating in this field, and within the main international frameworks. In this presentation, an overview of the past and present ENEA research activities on laser-driven inertial confinement fusion will be given.
