Inertial Confinement Fusion R&D and Nuclear Proliferation
Authors: Robert J. Goldston
Abstract: In a few months, or a few years, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory may achieve fusion gain using 192 powerful lasers to generate x-rays that
will compress and heat a small target containing isotopes of hydrogen. This event would mark a
major milestone after decades of research on inertial confinement fusion (ICF). It might also
mark the beginning of an accelerated global effort to harness fusion energy based on this science
and technology. Unlike magnetic confinement fusion (ITER, 2011), in which hot fusion fuel is
confined continuously by strong magnetic fields, inertial confinement fusion involves repetitive
fusion explosions, taking advantage of some aspects of the science learned from the design and
testing of hydrogen bombs. The NIF was built primarily because of the information it would
provide on weapons physics, helping the United States to steward its stockpile of nuclear
weapons without further underground testing. The U.S. National Academies' National Research
Council is now hosting a study to assess the prospects for energy from inertial confinement
fusion. While this study has a classified sub-panel on target physics, it has not been charged with
examining the potential nuclear proliferation risks associated with ICF R&D. We argue here that
this question urgently requires direct and transparent examination, so that means to mitigate risks
can be assessed, and the potential residual risks can be balanced against the potential benefits,
now being assessed by the NRC. This concern is not new (Holdren, 1978), but its urgency is now
higher than ever before.
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Submitted to: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (March 2011)
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Download PPPL-4618 (pdf 617 KB 6 pp)
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