US lab debuts super laser

[Dantheman62]

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – Sat May 30, 4:23 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – A US weapons lab on Friday pulled back the curtain on a super laser with the power to burn as hot as a star.

The National Ignition Facility's main purpose is to serve as a tool for gauging the reliability and safety of the US nuclear weapons arsenal but scientists say it could deliver breakthroughs in safe fusion power.

"We have invented the world's largest laser system," actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said during a dedication ceremony attended by thousands including state and national officials.

"We can create the stars right here on earth. And I can see already my friends in Hollywood being very upset that their stuff that they show on the big screen is obsolete. We have the real stuff right here."

NIF is touted as the world's highest-energy laser system. It is located inside the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about an hour's drive from San Francisco.

Equipment connected to a house-sized sphere can focus 192 laser beams on a small point, generating temperatures and pressures that exist at cores of stars or giant planets.

NIF will be able to create conditions and conduct experiments never before possible on Earth, according to the laboratory.

A fusion reaction triggered by the super laser hitting hydrogen atoms will produce more energy than was required to prompt "ignition," according to NIF director Edward Moses.

"This is the long-sought goal of 'energy gain' that has been the goal of fusion researchers for more than half a century," Moses said.

"NIF's success will be a scientific breakthrough of historic significance; the first demonstration of fusion ignition in a laboratory setting, duplicating on Earth the processes that power the stars."

Construction of the NIF began in 1997, funded by the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

"NIF, a cornerstone of the National Nuclear Security Administration's effort to maintain our nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing, will play a vital role in reshaping national security in the 21st century," said NNSA administrator Tom D'Agostino.

"This one-of-a-kind facility is the only place in the world that is capable of providing some of the most critical technical means to safely maintain the viability of the nation's nuclear stockpile."

Scientists say that NIF also promises groundbreaking discoveries in planetary science and astrophysics by recreating conditions that exist in supernovas, black holes, and in the cores of giant planets.

Electricity derived from fusion reactions similar to what takes place in the sun could help sate humanity's growing appetite for green energy, according to lab officials.

"Very shortly we will engage in what many believe to be this nation's greatest challenge thus far, one that confronts not only the nation but all of mankind -- energy independence," said lab director George Miller.

The lab was founded in 1952 and describes itself as a research institution for science and technology applied to national security.

"This laser system is an incredible success not just for California, but for our country and our world," Schwarzenegger said.

"NIF has the potential to revolutionize our energy system, teaching us a new way to harness the energy of the sun to power our cars and homes."

AFP/File – A US weapons lab pulled back the curtain on a super laser with the power to burn as hot as a star.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090530...20090530082418

[Dantheman62]

Ignition facility finally a reality,

LIVERMORE — The director of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory struggled with tears for a moment as he thanked the legions of lab employees who helped build the National Ignition Facility, the 10-story tall building behind him.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart," said George Miller, a nuclear-weapons designer who assumed leadership of the lab in 2006.

Miller addressed more than 3,000 invited guests and lab employees who had gathered for Friday's dedication ceremony for the facility, known as the NIF. The event took place 12 years to the day after the groundbreaking for what is now the largest laser facility in the world.

The NIF is designed to achieve fusion ignition, a holy grail of physics that has been elusive thus far despite 60 years of worldwide efforts, and billions spent trying.

The project, six years late and four times the original estimated cost, has been dogged by enormous challenges, from technical problems, to resistance or apathy in Congress, to skepticism in parts of the science community about whether fusion ignition can be achieved.

Many times throughout the years, NIF's future was uncertain.

The dedication also drew protesters. Members of Tri-Valley CAREs, a watchdog group that monitors lab activity, demonstrated outside the northwest corner of the lab. Banners hung on a fence expressed opposition to the facility, which the group asserts will be used for weapons design work, upping the ante in the arms race.

The group displayed documents that it says back its case, but the lab insists NIF won't be used for that purpose.

Still, the day belonged to the legions of NIF enthusiasts. Eleven speakers, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, shared their enthusiasm for the project, and their optimism that the facility would achieve fusion ignition.

Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, described his earlier work in the wind energy field and the colossal failures he witnessed. Then he pointed in the direction of wind farms in the nearby hills of Altamont Pass.

"We persisted and made incremental improvements, and now wind energy is overlooking the distant and advanced cousin we see today," he said, referring to the massive green and yellow NIF building behind him.

Lab officials opened the NIF to tours throughout the day, with technicians and scientists available to answer questions. A control room with seven consoles and five monitors serves as the "brain" of the facility, and was designed similar to NASA's control room in Houston.

"I'm very, very excited," said Jeff Atherton, project director for target experimental systems, speaking of the fusion experiments that will start this summer. "We've been working a long time to get to this point."

The eyes of NIF operations manager Bruno Vanwonterghem also lit up when describing the experiments that lie ahead.

"NIF is really the place where 50 years of fusion development and 50 years of laser development come together," he said.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_12480167?source=rss

[chitty]

Thanks for this Dan. A Ray of hope?