How NIF Works
The National Ignition Facility, located at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is the world’s largest laser system… 192 huge laser beams in a massive building, all focused down at the last moment at a 2 millimeter ball containing frozen hydrogen gas. The goal is to achieve fusion… getting more energy out than was used to create it. It’s never been done before under controlled conditions, just in nuclear weapons and in stars. We expect to do it within the next 2-3 years. The purpose is threefold: to create an almost limitless supply of safe, carbon-free, proliferation-free electricity; examine new regimes of astrophysics as well as basic science; and study the inner-workings of the US stockpile of nuclear weapons to ensure they remain safe, secure and reliable without the need for underground testing. More information about NIF can be found at: lasers.llnl.gov
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:07 am
I feel like the sphere that they have this fusion experiment taking place in wont be able to hold all the energy
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:24 am
@fermi2
Numerous safety systems have been incorporated into NIF to assure that all experiments can be safely carried out. The small size of the fusion target, and the fact that the fuel is expended in just a few trillionths of a second, insures against a runaway chain reaction or “meltdown”. While the neutrons, X-rays and gamma rays generated in a shot can be harmful if not properly controlled, two-meter-thick concrete walls and doors encase the target bay in a protective shield.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:14 am
Interesting that throughout the entire 5 minute video they never once mention safety!
After the blatant disregard of safety at the BP Horizon disaster, the public has a highlighted interest in making sure that safety is addressed in any endeavor. In future videos I would appreciate hearing about “what could go wrong and this is how we are going to prevent it from happening.” Maybe next time?
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:31 am
THANKS FOR WHAT U ARE DONING NIF, I HOPE THAT ALL YOUR EFFORT ON IT WILL HELP THE WORLD TO BECOME A BETTER PLACE.
This kind of engine could be used in future as space ship engine.
July 22nd, 2010 at 9:40 am
the Europeans focus on making a donut produce fusion. We build a giant death ray! America Fuck Yeah!
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:29 am
@grogtgs
We have a technical document online, but YouTube won’t allow me to reply in this box with an actual URL. So do a Web search for: “national ignition facility” “title I design” ICF “quarterly report” and select the second listing. It’s on page 96, in a box entitled “Why 192 Beams?”
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:30 am
why 192 lasers? why not 200? or 175?
July 22nd, 2010 at 10:31 am
@LivermoreLab I still don’t think is a good ideal to mess around it before we fully understand how the stars able pull together such huge quantity of concentrated hydrogen from.
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 am
@utubmania2009 There is only a tiny amount of hydrogen fuel inside the target capsule, which is the size of a BB. Once the fuel is exhausted, the fusion process ends. In a star like our Sun, the amount of fuel is huge, so the fusion continues for millions or billions of years. That cannot happen at NIF.
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Will any of the scientist ever consider there is a possibility that fusion will eventually and growth like the star beyond control to destroy us and the planet?
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Roll over LHC, this is our new doomsday weapon.
It sound all very interesting. I’m going to have to look up more about it.
July 22nd, 2010 at 1:43 pm
They made this whole video about how controlled the light is, but in the end, there is this inexplicable explosion! I almost laughed. How is an explosion of part of the assembly a controlled system?
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:18 pm
We are living in a sci-fi book from decades ago, and it kinda rocks!
July 22nd, 2010 at 2:46 pm
can someone quickly brief me how is IR converted to UV? some kind of wavelength amplifier? what is in that thing? thx Jan
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:23 pm
@MercenarySlick science is not to be divided geopolitically, please, we are all one people
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:41 pm
IMMA FIRING MAH LAZOOOOOR!!! WOOOOHAAAAAAAA!!!!
July 22nd, 2010 at 4:37 pm
holy crap!!!
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:12 pm
what the music title? very cool
love human innovation and crossing bariers
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm
In France is a big project underway. It’s called ITER.
NIF and ITER have are verydiffrent proect but both focus on fusion energy.
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:46 pm
is that new Spiderman 2 trailer?
July 22nd, 2010 at 5:55 pm
Very interresting, but that music is nasty!
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:06 pm
USA! USA!
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Very exciting! (minus the cheesy dramatic soundtrack)
July 22nd, 2010 at 6:43 pm
@prostovanka
black holes only have as much gravity as the matter that created it… nothing on Earth is large enough to “suck” another Earth object in due to gravity, so even if (hypothetically) the mini star created a black hole, it wouldn’t just start sucking shit into oblivion. (at least, that’s how it was explained to me by the guys at the McDonald Observatory in Texas…)
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:28 pm
@prostovanka LHC revision 2?