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Apr 1, 2009 04:27 PM | 28
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) has announced that the world's biggest laser is ready to start blasting away after 12 years in the making. The $3.5-billion stadium-size National Ignition Facility (NIF), housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, Calif., consists of 192 separate beams, each of which stands as the most energetic ever built, says LLNL spokesperson Bob Hirschfeld.
Very much like the Death Star, the gigantic space station in the movie series Star Wars (“That’s no moon,” speaketh Obi Wan Kenobi), the beams will focus on a single point to unleash their full, joint potential. The target: a BB-size pellet of frozen hydrogen in the center of a 33-foot- (10-meter-) diameter chamber. The ultraviolet lasers should heat the pellet to hundreds of millions of degrees, forcing nuclear fusion to occur—the same superhigh heat and pressure atomic reaction that fuels the stars.
Scientists have long hailed fusion as the ultimate clean energy source—hydrogen is abundant, though producing and storing it remains economically unattractive. Unit for unit, though, the amount of energy that could be generated via fusion with even a tiny bit of hydrogen fuel is astronomical (think: E=mc2) compared to any other power-making scheme in operation today.
Crucially, the lab expects to generate a net amount of energy, reaching the milestone that has plagued other laboratory attempts at developing fusion as a future energy source, according to Hirschfeld. A fusion reaction requires an immense amount of energy to get going, robbing its potential power output, and harvesting and storing that energy is another task altogether. Currently, NIF’s lasers cannot fire anywhere near quickly enough to sustainedly produce energy, Hirschfeld says, noting that not one watt of energy for commercial purposes will come out of NIF, which stands as a proof of principle experiment.
Beyond gunning for fusion, NIF could also one day focus its lasers on burning up some of the spent nuclear fuel from
power plants that now sits in on-site pools or cement casks. For years, the U.S. and other nations have grappled with what to do with this radioactive waste. (The Obama administration recently canned long-standing plans to bury it in Nevada's Yucca Mountain.) NIF, or a facility based on its technology, could use these leftover fissile materials in place of the hydrogen pellet to generate power, while getting rid of volatile nuclear material.
Other NIF missions include updating supercomputer simulations of the nation’s aging nuclear stockpile, which cannot be tested due to a 1992 moratorium. Astrophysics work on the fusion in stars and materials science will also take place at NIF. ("We'll be squeezing materials harder than they have ever been squeezed,” Hirschfeld says.) Despite any Darth Vader–like urges to the contrary, though, the NIF lasers will not see service in blowing up rebellious planets.
Inside the targeting chamber at NIF. The target positioner extends from the right [top]. Laser Bay 2 (of two) where the lasers are generated at NIF [right]. Image Credits: Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC / Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Tags:
largest laser,
nuclear fusion,
national ignition facility
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28 Comments
Add CommentHow would a laser "get rid" of fissile material? It doesn't undergo fusion.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree, no detail or explanation whatsoever.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Burning up spent nuclear fuel..." ??
How does one "burn" radioactive atoms, more fission?
Cool! Can I put some popcorn in there?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJames Bond wouldn't last a second!
Seriously, that is one expensive proof-of-concept.
But if it leads to clean fusion energy, it could be the salvation of mankind.
"Unit for unit, though, the amount of energy that could be generated via fusion with even a tiny bit of hydrogen fuel is astronomical (think: E=mc2) compared to any other power-making scheme in operation today. "
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTotal BS. Nuclear fission produces fantastic amounts of power from very small amounts of fuel. Think E=mc^2
Why would it be the salvation of mankind? We already have the capability to convert mass to energy via proven, safe and reliable technology known as nuclear fission. The same hysteria (OMG! Radiation!) that is used to spike it will be used to kill fusion. Tritium is a radioactive gas that can diffuse through steel and fusion reactors produce hard neutron radiation while operating.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCool, there is a facebook group for assembling the Death Star, maybe we can use this?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=7864&post=28655&uid=7066401842#/group.php?gid=7066401842
The heat generated with this fusion reaction must be very high. So how will this heat and pressure be contained? And 1 want to know 1f the reaction would be self sustained or not?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe spider-man will be there to stop it...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPerhaps the energy and wavelength of the laser is sufficient to break the bonds of the neutrons and protons in the nuclei of the nuclear waste, rendering it into stable compounds.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's funny how all the pro fission people conveniently ignore the main problem with it - waste. How do you propose to safely store nuclear waste for the the 1000's of years it takes to decay? In the long run, governments change, societies collapse, earthquakes change the landscape... There is no long term solution for nuclear waste. And while fission currently is the most efficient source of commercial energy, we will eventually develop better sources. In the mean time, let's not create any more waste to burden future generations.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisdid anyone else notice the upload date on this...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismethinks you've been had by a good april fools gag
this was uploaded on april the first. probably just a joke
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Nuclear_Fusion
See:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Nuclear_Fusion
I rode somewhere that if you plot the energy you get from splitting atoms vs the atomic mass of them, you get a curve that says heavier is better, then, if you plot a curve for fusing atoms in the same fashion, you get another that says lighter is better, they both cross at Iron, that is why supernovae collapse, they melt hidrogen to helium, helium to carbon, carbon to... until somethign is turned to iron, then the star gets no more energy from fusion and goes kazooie!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswill the spent nukes be a worthy fissile/fusion fuel source?
MOlten Salt Actinide Recycler & Transmuter (MOSART) is a molten salt reactor using sodium based fluoride salts that can burn 99.9 % of nuclear wastes. This little know reactor type is the most effective nuclear waste burner yet devised and is equivalent to what fusion can do with nuclear wastes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn a series of theoretical and experimental studies that were undertaken in Europe to demonstrate the feasibility of molten salt reactors to reduce long-lived waste toxicity, it was shown that this reactor type can safely and efficiently produce electricity in a closed cycle from light water reactor wastes without any proliferation danger. This work was led by the Kurchatov Institute in Russia.
This alternative is there for us, just reach out and take it.
Furthermore, what the all fusion reactors currently under development have in common is this little known nuclear methodology called fluoride molten salt technology. This was conceived and perfected by the Idaho national lab (INL) back in the 1970’s and could offer the world an abundant source of carbon free electric power today, not years from now.
The Liquid fluoride thorium reactor (Lftr) has already been designed, prototyped and demonstrated to be safe and effective. But research on the Lftr was canceled to leave the field open for breeder reactor development when plutonium was important to the national defense, but now the government feels it is dangerous. In stead of fusion to produce nuclear heat, the Lftr burns nuclear waste; something we have plenty of.
In his open letter to President Obama, the climatologist Dr. Jim Hanson recommended the Thorium fuel cycle and the Lftr. Dr. Edward Teller, the father of Fusion, after a lifetime of work on every aspect of nuclear technology had at the last month of his life came to this conclusion in his final study: “the LFTR is the best of all possible reactor types”. (see http://www.geocities.com/rmoir2003/moir_teller.pdf)
The LFTR, a GEN IV reactor, which is currently in development in France, Japan, and Russia, is an elegant type of reactor which allows for base load, load following, or peak power production. It can start up on any kind of nuclear fuel, bomb material, or nuclear waste product to produce very efficient, high temperature heat and at the same time breed more fuel in the bargain. This thrifty approach to nuclear energy greatly appeals to me, but I became even more interested in the LFTR when the details of a new patent were revealed by Dr LeBlanc (see below @ minute 53). It opens up the possibility of building a very compact but powerful reactor that can run for 30 years without refueling. With no danger of a core meltdown or runaway reaction, this air cooled reactor can be deployed anywhere and operated remotely in an unattended fully automated intrusion detecting mode and sited underground while it breeds self perpetuating new fuel within the thorium structure of the reactor itself.
The Lftr is highly proliferation resistant. In order to get to its fuel, U233 that has been produced inside the very solid metal walls of this 200 ton reactor 1800 degree white hot containment vessel, a proliferator must destroy and disassemble the reactor, lift its heavy reactor core out of a 100 meter deep reinforced aircraft crash proof hole in the ground, then cut the thorium containment vessel up into small pieces while enduring heavy killing gamma radiation exposure, next reprocess these reactor pieces using isotopic separation since the U233 is denatured with enough U238 to make chemical separation of bomb grade U233 impossible, and do all this without being detected. Now, this is a tall order for any bad guy and may just be an impossible assignment.
The Lftr burns its fuel at 99.8 % efficiency. At the end of the service life of the Lftr, the reactor vessel is sent back to the factory where it is reduced to liquid fluoride salts that become the feedstock of the next new Lftr. This feedstock can only be used by the new Lftr and not for bombs. A few handfuls of waste products are held at the factory for a few hundred years to cool down before they are mined for the many precious elements contained within like platinum and iridium. Now that is what I call a safe, efficient and thrifty mode of operation! Why wait for fusion when the Lftr can be deployed today.
To learn more see one of the following:
Aim High
http://rethinkingnuclearpower.googlepages.com/aimhigh
What Fusion Wanted To Be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHs2Ugxo7-8
Liquid Fluoride Reactors: A New Beginning for an Old Idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F0tUDJ35So
Lil' Jon says: "YEAH!" lol
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLil' Jon says "YEAH!"....lol
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIndeed
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs the Death Star the supplement of Don Cooks X-1 Project at Sandia Labs? Is it the second generation of the Z-Accelerator from Sandia Laboratories?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOr am I experiencing a true De Ja Vu?
This article says that the power of Death Star won't be used to destroy an enemy Planet. At the same time, this article says that the Death Star will be used to ensure the US Nuclear weapons arsenal is potent enough to destroy to Earth.
DoE should change the acronym to DoW = Department of War.
This technology is reserved for proving US Nuclear Weapons integrity. That's it. Seems the US would rather protect thier War Machine, the Death Star is not about energy dependence.
I believe this technology is destined to ensure that the US can manipulate the US dependance on OIL.
On the basis of WAR.
Laser fusion, regarding energy consumption and efficiency, is far from break-even point. Conversely, electrostatic acceleration employs energy in a more efficient manner.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.crossfirefusor.com/nuclear-fusion-reactor/overview.html
MAYBE ITS JUSTA BATTERY CHARGER.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMAYBE ITS A BATTERY CHARGER.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMAYBE IT'S A BATTERY CHARGER.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWITH THAT (DESIGN) I HAD TO WATCH MY VORTEX AND THE AMOUNT OF OVER SPRAY OF WITCH CAUSED BUILD-UP AND WALL FALLS. THE EVER CHANGING BAROMETER,STATIC,AND MINE MATERIALS WERE HUGE FACTORS.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWITH THAT (DESIGN) I HAD TO BECAREFUL WITH THE VORTEX AND WATCH MY OVER SPRAY SO AS NOT TO CREATE WALL FALLS. THE BAROMETER,STATIC AND MINE MATERIALS WERE ALSO A HUGE FACTOR.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDUST OF ANY SIZE WOULD ADVERSLY AFFECT THE EXPERAMENT ALSO.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this