GLOSSARY
Ablator: Outermost layer of the target capsule that is rapidly heated and vaporized, compressing the rest of the target.
Adiabat (plasma physics): Determined, for instance, by the ratio of the plasma pressure to the Fermi pressure (the pressure of a degenerate electron gas); used as a measure of plasma entropy.
Blanket: Section of the reactor chamber that serves as the heat transfer medium for the fusion reactor chamber. Some blanket concepts incorporate materials for tritium breeding as well as cooling.
Cryogenic: Involving very low temperatures.
Diode-pumped lasers: Lasers wherein laser diodes illuminate a solid gain medium (such as a crystal or glass).
Direct drive: Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) technique whereby the driver energy strikes the fuel capsule directly.
Driver: Mechanism by which energy is delivered to the fuel capsule. Typical techniques use lasers, heavy-ion beams, and Z-pinches.
Dry wall: Fusion reactor chamber’s first wall that employs no liquid or gaseous protection.
Fast ignition: ICF technique whereby the driver gradually compresses the fuel capsule, followed by a high-intensity, ultrashort-pulse laser that strikes the fuel to trigger ignition.
First wall: First surface of the fusion reactor chamber encountered by radiation and/or debris emitted from the target implosion. These walls may vary in composition and execution such as dry, wetted, or liquid jet.
Gain: Ratio of the fusion energy released by the target to the driver energy applied to the target in a single explosion.
Heavy-ion fusion: ICF technique whereby ions of heavy elements are accelerated and directed onto a target.
High average power: Attribute of a driver that, if repeatable, would make it suitable for an IFE-based power plant.
High-energy-density science: Study of the creation, behavior, and interaction of matter with extremely high energy densities.
High repetition rate: Maintaining a high rate for engaging the driver or igniting the target, making it suitable for an IFE-based power plant (e.g., 10 Hz).
Hohlraum: Hollow container in which an ICF target may be placed, whose walls are used to reradiate incident energy to drive the fuel capsule’s implosion.
Hydrodynamic instability: Concept in which fluids of differing physical qualities interact, causing perturbations such as turbulence. Examples include Rayleigh-Taylor and Richtmyer-Meshkov instabilities.
Ignition (broad definition): Condition in a plasma when self-heating from nuclear fusion reactions is at a rate sufficient to maintain the plasma’s temperature and fusion reactions without having to apply any external energy.
Ignition (IFE): State when fusion gain exceeds unity—that is, when the fusion energy released in a single explosion exceeds the energy applied to the target.
Indirect drive: ICF technique whereby the driver energy strikes the fuel capsule indirectly—for example, by the X-rays produced by heating the high-Z enclosure (hohlraum) that surrounds the fuel capsule.
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF): Concept in which a driver delivers energy to the outer surface of a fuel capsule (typically containing a mixture of deuterium and tritium), heating and compressing it. The heating and compression then initiate a fusion chain reaction.
Inertial fusion energy: Concept whereby ICF is used to predictably and continuously initiate fusion chain reactions that yield more energy than that incident on the fuel from the driver for the ultimate purpose of producing electrical power.
KD*P: Potassium dideuterium phosphate, a material widely used in frequency conversion optics.
Krypton fluoride (KrF) laser: Gas laser that operates in the ultraviolet at 248 nm.
Laser–plasma instability: Secondary processes such as symmetry disturbances, fuel preheat, and diversion of laser energy that occur when intense lasers interact with plasmas.
Liquid wall: Fusion reactor chamber’s first wall that features thick jets of liquid coolant. This design may also shield the solid chamber walls from neutron damage.
Magnetized target fusion: ICF technique whereby a magnetic field is created surrounding the target; the field is then imploded around the target, initiating fusion reactions.
Mix (plasma physics): When colder target material is incorporated into the hot reaction region of the target, usually as a result of hydrodynamic instabilities.
Pulse compression: Technique whereby the incident pulse is compressed to deliver the energy in a shorter time.
Pulsed-power fusion: ICF technique that uses a large electrical current to magnetically implode a target.
Reactor chamber: Apparatus in which the fusion reactions would take place in an IFE power plant. It would contain and capture the energy released from repeated ignition.
Sabot: Protective device used when injecting an IFE target into the chamber at high speed.
Shock ignition: ICF technique that uses hydrodynamic shocks to ignite the compressed hot spot.
Target: Fuel capsule, together with a holhraum or other energy-focusing device (if one is used), that is struck by the driver’s incident energy in order to initiate fusion reactions.
Wall-plug efficiency: Energy conversion efficiency defined as a ratio of the total driver output power to the input electrical power.
Wetted wall: Fusion reactor chamber’s first wall that features a renewable, thin layer of liquid.
ACRONYMS
APG | advanced phosphate glass |
AWE | Atomic Weapons Establishment |
BOP | balance of plant |
CEA | Commissariat à l’energie atomique |
CELIA | Centre lasers intenses et applications |
COE | cost of electricity |
CPA | chirped-pulse amplification |
CPP | continuous-phase plate |
CVD | chemical vapor deposition |
D | deuterium |
DD (drive context) | direct drive |
DEMO | demonstration plant |
DOE | Department of Energy |
DPSSL | diode-pumped solid-state laser |
DT | deuterium-tritium |
ELI | Extreme Light Infrastructure |
ETF | engineering test facility |
FAIR | Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research |
FESAC | Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee |
FLiBe | fluorine-lithium-beryllium |
FTF | Fusion Test Facility |
GDP | glow discharge polymer |
HAPL | High Average Power Laser |
HCX | High-Current Experiment |
HIF | heavy-ion fusion |
HIFTF | Heavy-Ion Fusion Test Facility |
HIF-VL | Heavy-Ion Fusion Virtual Laboratory |
HI-IFE | Heavy-Ion Inertial Fusion Energy |
HiPER | High-Power Laser Energy Research |
HLW | high-level waste |
ICF | inertial confinement fusion |
ID | indirect drive |
IFE | inertial fusion energy |
i-LIFT | Laboratory Inertial Fusion Test |
IRE | integrated research experiment |
ISI | incoherent spatial imaging |
ITER | International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor |
KDP | potassium dihydrogen phosphate |
LANL | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
LBNL | Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
LDRD | laboratory-directed research and development |
LIFE | laser inertial fusion energy |
LIL | Ligne d’Integration Laser |
LLE | Laboratory for Laser Energetics |
LLNL | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
LLW | low-level waste |
LMJ | Laser MégaJoule (project) |
LPI | laser-plasma interactions/instabilities |
LTD | linear transformer driver |
LULI | Laboratoire pour l’utilisation des lasers intenses |
LWR | light water reactor |
MagLIF | magnetized liner inertial fusion |
MFE | magnetic fusion energy |
MTF | Magnetized Target Fusion |
NCDX-II | neutralized drift compression experiment II |
NGNP | next-generation nuclear plant |
NIC | National Ignition Campaign |
NIF | National Ignition Facility |
NNSA | National Nuclear Security Administration |
NRC | National Research Council |
NRL | Naval Research Laboratory |
OFES | Office of Fusion Energy Sciences |
PALS | Prague Asterisk Laser System |
PDD | polar direct drive |
PETAL | PETawatt Aquitaine Laser |
PP | pulsed power |
PPPL | Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory |
RF | radio frequency |
RTL | recyclable transmission line |
SAC | science advisory committee |
SAL | specific activity limit |
SBS | stimulated Brillouin scattering |
SNL | Sandia National Laboratories |
SRS | stimulated Raman scattering |
SSD | smoothing by spectral dispersion |
T | tritium |
TA | technology application |
TBM | test blanket module |
TPD | two-plasmon decay |
TRL | technology readiness level |
TWAC | TeraWatt ACcelerator |
UV | ultraviolet |
VLT | Virtual Laboratory for Technology |
YAG | yttrium-aluminum-garnet |