The US Inertial Confinement Fusion Program recent results and future plans

The near-term goal of the US Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program is to achieve thermonuclear ignition and moderate gain (<10) of deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel in the laboratory; the long-term goal is to achieve high-gain (>50) thermonuclear burn for both military and energy applications. The paths to these goals are coincident in the near-term. The objective of the driver technologies development effort is to develop a driver that will couple its energy to a DT capsule so as to create the physical conditions necessary for DT ignition and burn. As no single driver currently meets all driver requirements, there are four technologies under study: light ions, heavy ions, glass lasers, and KrF lasers. The US program has emphasized its most mature technology, the glass laser, which is considered to be the quickest route to the ignition goal. An aggressive theoretical and experimental campaign is being pursued to resolve the remaining target physics issues for laser-driven ICF necessary to consider construction of the 1-2 MJ Nova Upgrade ignition facility. Other driver options are also explored