National Research Council have recently issued a report called “An Assessment of the Prospects for Internal Fusion Energy,” highlighting that the current U.S. fleet of internal fusion facilities offers a unique opportunity for experiments at “fusion scale” where fusion conditions are accessible for the first time. Report aims to determine, how best to exploit this opportunity and judges that “potential benefits of internal fusion energy justify it as part of the long-term U.S. Energy R&D portfolio.” According to the report, the target physics programs at the National Ignition Facility, Naval Research Laboratories (NIKE laser), Laboratory for Laser Energetics (OMEGA EL Laser) and Sandia National Laboratory (Z machine) should receive continued high priority. Read more »