Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion at Sandia Labs, New Mexico
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Sandia, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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Subscript to the photo in the Press Release by Sandia National Laboratory: "Sandia researcher Ryan McBride pays close attention to the tiny central beryllium liner to be imploded by the powerful magnetic field generated by Sandia’s Z machine. The larger cylinders forming a circle on the exterior of the base plate measure Z’s load current by picking up the generated magnetic field."
Liner Magnetized Inertial Fusion is a hybrid concept combining inertial and magnetic fusion. The concept is tested by using a 100 ns pulse of electricity to create an intense Z-pinch magnetic field that inwardly crushes a fuel filled cylindrical metal liner (a hohlraum) through which the electric pulse runs. Just before the cylinder implodes, a laser is used to preheat fusion fuel that is held within the cylinder and contained by a magnetic field.
A paper, published in Physical Review Letters, presents numerical simulations that indicate the gain exceeds 1000 for a drive current of 70 MA - which is more than enough for fusion energy applications. This concept is now tested with the help of Sandia Labs' Z-machine, which is currently being prepared for MagLIF experiments in late 2013. The current planning is to proceed towards breakeven experiments using D-T fuel in 2018.
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