Fusion Ignition At NIF Marks A Monumental Scientific Step

Scientists are also taking advantage of the NIF’s extreme, star-like conditions to learn more about the nature of stars and the origin of elements.

Fusion Ignition At NIF Marks A Monumental Scientific Step

The recent achievement of fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) represents a monumental scientific step forward in controlling the physics involved in the quest for limitless clean energy in the future. Scientists are also taking advantage of the NIF’s extreme, star-like conditions to learn more about the nature of stars and the origin of elements.

To better understand its potential as a testbed for nuclear astrophysics research, a team of scientists is studying the environments created during laser shots at the NIF at the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System (ATLAS), a US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science user facility located at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory.

Extreme stellar environments, such as supernovae and neutron-star mergers, produce chemical elements. The NIF’s intense conditions mimic those found in stars, making it a powerful testbed for investigating nuclear physics.

ATLAS capabilities are allowing scientists to characterise the NIF environment, with the ultimate goal of understanding the processes that produce heavy nuclei such as gold, platinum, and uranium, as well as validating current models of stellar events and the early universe.

Laser beams at the NIF cause a capsule filled with fusion fuel to release large amounts of energy through processes similar to those found in stars. When a small amount of argon gas is added to the fuel in the NIF-ATLAS experiments, reactions produce radioactive argon isotopes, which are collected from the NIF and shipped to ATLAS.

There, the argon is analysed for evidence of specific nuclear reactions that demonstrate the synthesis of new atoms and could indicate the achievement of laboratory conditions required for the astrophysical r-process, which is thought to occur in stellar explosions and is responsible for the production of about half of the heavy elements in nature. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Physics is funding this research.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national science and technology problems. Argonne, the nation’s first national laboratory, conducts cutting-edge basic and applied scientific research in almost every scientific discipline.

Researchers at Argonne collaborate closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state, and municipal agencies to solve specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership, and prepare the nation for a better future. Argonne, which employs people from over 60 countries, is managed by Chicago Argonne, LLC, for the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The achievement of fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is indeed a significant scientific advancement. Fusion is a process that occurs when the nuclei of two or more atoms combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy in the process.

Fusion has the potential to be a nearly limitless and clean source of energy, as it does not produce greenhouse gases or other harmful pollutants, and the fuel used in fusion reactions (mainly hydrogen) is abundant and widely available.