Global summary of elements, cost,

1
Introduction
A plan to develop electrical power with Laser
Fusion in 35 years
John Sethian (NRL) Steve Obenschain (NRL),
Camille Bibeau (LLNL), and Steve Payne (LLNL)
With lots of help from References D.
Weidenheimer, Titan PSD Sombrero Power Plant
Study L. Brown and D. Goodin, GA National
Ignition Facility W. Meier, LLNL "2 MJ Laser
Facility" by M.W. McGeoch
Presented to FESAC Development Path Panel General
Atomics January 14, 2003
2
Lasers and direct drive targets can lead to an
attractive power plant
Spherical target
Modular, separable parts lowers cost of
development AND improvements Targets are simple
spherical shells fuel lends itself to
automated production Pursuing dry wall (passive)
chamber because of simplicity Past power plant
studies have shown concept economically attractive
3
Summary of Elements, Cost, and Schedule to
developLaser Fusion Energy
YEAR
Phase I Applied IFE RD

• Phase II
• IFE Science Technology
• Full scale beam lines
• High Gain Physics
• Integration Experiments

• Phase III Engineering Test Facility
• Full size driver (? 2 MJ)
• Optimize Targets for High Yield
• Develop/optimize chamber comp
• Electricity Production (300 MWe)

Specific Criteria must be met before proceeding
to the next phase
DEMO High Availability Commercial worthy
Costs include Capital, Operating, Contingency,
Fees, Management
4
Phase I Develop Science and Technologyfor Laser
Fusion Energy as an integrated system.( 8
Government labs, 7 Universities, 8 Private
Industries)
Lasers
Lasers KrF NRL Titan PSD, SAIC, PPPL,
Georgia Tech, Commonwealth Tech DPSSL
LLNL Coherent, Onyx, DEI, Northrup, UR/LLE
Target Fabrication
Target Fabrication GA Fab, charac, mass
production LANL Adv foams SCHAFER DvB foams
Target Injection
Target Injection GA Injector, injection
tracking LANL DT mech prop, thermal resp.
Direct Drive Target Design
Direct Drive Target Design NRL Target
design LLNL Yield spectrum, design UR/LLE
Target Design (DP program)
Chambers and Materials
Chambers Materials WISCONSIN Yield spectrum
/ Chambers LLNL Alt chamber concepts,
materials UCSD/ANL/INEEL Chamber dynamics
SNL Materials response x-rays/ions
ORNL/UCLA/UCSB/Wisconsin Materials
Final Optics
Final Optics LLNL X-rays, ions, neutrons UCSD
Laser, debris mitigation
5
Laser IFE development leverages two main thrusts
in DOE
Fusion Program (Office of Science) System
Studies (ARIES) Blanket/Breeders Materials
ICF Program (NNSA/Defense Programs) Target
Design Target Experiments Single Shot Target Fab
6
A Typical Direct Drive Target
1-D Pellet Gain 120-180- sufficient for Energy
High Gain Target (sector of spherical target)
NRL
2-D single Mode Calculations Pulse Gain
Shell Shape Break-up Normal 180
83 "Pickett" 110 2
LLNL, (UR/LLE, NRL)
7
Two types of lasers are under development for
Fusion Energy
Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers (DPPSL)---
"Mercury" at LLNL
E-beam Pumped Krypton Fluoride Laser (KrF)----
"Electra" at NRL
Diodes
Crystal
LASER
Both lasers recently achieved first light Both
have the potential to meet IFE requirements, but
have different challenges
8
Highlights of Progress to date
See 12/6/02 meeting summary for further details
http//aries.ucsd.edu/HAPL/SUMMARIES/02-12-16HAP
LmtgSummary.pdf
Both DPPSL and KrF lasers demonstrated first
light Target design advances picket, high
gain Projected targets cost of 16 cents
each Made foam shells of required
dimensions Target injector/tracking system
nearing completion Enhanced DT ice smoothness w/
foams and at 16 degrees K Grazing incidence
metal mirrors exceed required laser damage
threshold Less helium retention in tungsten when
cycled at elevated temps Four facilities used
for matl's evaluation (x-rays and ions) First
generation chamber dynamics code
completed Chamber operating windows identified
with both advanced and current materials
9
Elements, Cost, Schedule to develop Laser
Fusion Energy
Phase I 140 M
Phase II 650M(65M/yr)
Phase III ETF 4,947 M (350M/yr)
DEMO 1,000M ??
Lasers 105 M
Targets 15 M
Optics 4.8 M
Chamber 7.0 M
Materials 6.8 M
10
Criteria to go from Phase I to Phase II (page 1
of 3)

• LASERS
• Develop technologies that can meet fusion energy
  requirements for efficiency (gt 6), repetition
  rate (5-10 Hz), and durability (gt100,000,000
  shots continuous).
• Demonstrate required laser beam quality and pulse
  shaping.
• Laser technologies employed must scale to reactor
  size laser modules and project have attractive
  costs for commercial fusion energy.

• FINAL OPTICS
• Meet laser induced damage threshold (LIDT)
  requirements of more than 5 Joules/cm2, in large
  area optics.
• Develop a credible final optics design that is
  resistant to degradation from neutrons, x-rays,
  gamma rays, debris, contamination, and energetic
  ions.

11
Criteria to go from Phase I to Phase II (page 2
of 3)

• CHAMBERS
• Develop a viable first wall concept for a fusion
  power plant.
• Produce a viable point design for a fusion
  power plant.

• TARGET FABRICATION
• Develop mass production methods to fabricate
  cryogenic DT targets that meet the requirements
  of the target design codes and chamber design.
  Includes characterization.
• Combine these methods with established mass
  production costing models to show targets cost
  will be less than 0.25.

12
Criteria to go from Phase I to Phase II (page 3
of 3)

• TARGET INJECTION AND TRACKING
• Build an injector that accelerates targets to a
  velocity to traverse the chamber (6.5 m) in 16
  milliseconds or less.
• Demonstrate target tracking with sufficient
  accuracy for a power plant (/- 20 microns).

• TARGET DESIGN/PHYSICS
• Develop credible target designs, using 2D and 3D
  modeling, that have sufficient gain (gt 100)
  stability for fusion energy.
• Benchmark underlying codes with experiments on
  Nike Omega.
• Integrate design into needs of target fab,
  injection and reactor chamber.

13
Description of Phase II (page 1 of 5)

• Top Level Objective
• Establish Science and Technology to build and
  JUSTIFY the Engineering Test Facility (ETF).
• Phase II will consist of six components.

1. Laser Facility--primary function Lasers
Build a full-scale (power plant sized) laser beam
line using the best laser choice to emerge from
Phase I (KrF 60 kJ) (DPPSL 6 kJ)   Final
optics/target injection Use the above beam line
to repetitively hit a target injected into a
chamber, with the required precision. Measure
optics "Laser Induced Damage Threshold" (LIDT)
durability.
14
What are Full Scale Beam Lines?
(page 2 of 5)
Full scale is defined as the size that will be
replicated N times for the ETF, M times for DEMO.
N may equal M.
Forty 60 kJ Amps 2.4 MJ ETF
12 bundled apertures Terra (36 kJ) 60 x Terra
Helios 2.1 MJ ETF
Laser 60 kJ
Requires 3x scaled up crystal growth
Requires 10x scaled e-beam diodes
15
Description of Phase II (page 3 of 5)
2. Laser Facility--secondary functions Chamber
Dynamics Evaluate chamber dynamics models with
Mini Chamber Chamber materials Study
candidate wall and/or optics materials
16
Description of Phase II (page 4 of 5)
3. Cryogenic Target Facility Target
fabrication Batch mode mass production of
fusion class (cryogenic) targets. Target
Injection Repetitive injection of above targets
into a simulated fusion chamber environment.
Cryo Target factory
mass production
Cryogenic, layered target
Tracking characterization
IFE Chamber environment (e.g. right gas, wall
temp, etc)
17
Description of Phase II (page 5 of 5)

• 4. Power Plant Design
• Produce a credible design for a laser fusion
  power plant that meets the technical and economic
  requirements for commercial power.
• 5. Chamber and final optics materials/structures
• Evaluate candidate materials/structures in a
  non-fusion environment.
•  
• 6. Target Physics
• Develop viable, robust high gain targets for
  fusion energy using integrated high-resolution
  3D target modeling.
• Validate design codes with target physics
  experiments at fusion scale energies, (e.g. on
  NIF).

18
Cost Breakdown for Phase II KrF
19
Cost Breakdown for Phase II DPPSL
20
Cost Breakdown for Phase II Other R D
21
Elements, Cost, Schedule to develop Laser
Fusion Energy
Phase I 140 M
Phase II 650M(65M/yr)
Phase III ETF 4,947 M (350M/yr)
DEMO 1,000M ??
Lasers 105 M
Targets 15 M
?
Optics 4.8 M
Chamber 7.0 M
Target Physics 100 M
Materials 6.8 M
Other Comp 150 M
22
Criteria to go from Phase II to Phase III (ETF)
(1 of 2)

• 1. Lasers
• Full functionality of laser beam line using the
  best laser choice to emerge from Phase I. (full
  energy beam line KrF, full aperture DPSSL)
• Meets all the fusion energy requirements
• efficiency rep rate cost basis
• rep-rate durability
• pulse shaping illumination uniformity
• 2. Final optics/target injection
• Laser beam can be hit injected target with the
  required precision.
• Required optics LIDT durability.
• 3. Target fabrication
• Batch mode mass production of fusion class
  (cryogenic) targets.
• 4. Target Injection
• Repetitive injection, tracking, and survival of
  targets into a simulated fusion chamber
  environment.

23
Criteria to go from Phase II to Phase III (ETF)
(2 of 2)

• 5. Power Plant Design
• Produce a credible design for a laser fusion
  power plant that meets the technical and economic
  requirements for commercial power.
• Demonstrate candidate materials / structures can
  survive in a non-fusion environment.
• Develop one or more credible blanket concepts.
• 6. Chamber and final optics materials/structures
• Evaluate candidate materials/structures in a
  non-fusion environment.
•  
• 7. Target Physics
• Develop viable, robust high gain targets for
  fusion energy using integrated high-resolution
  3D target modeling.
• Validate design codes with target physics
  experiments at fusion scale energies, (e.g. on
  NIF).

24
Description of Phase III (ETF)

• The ETF will have operational flexibility to
  perform four major tasks
• Full size driver with sufficient energy for high
  gain.
• 2 MJ Laser
• Replications of the beam line developed in Phase
  II. But allow improvements.
• Optimize targets for high yield.
• Address issues specific to direct drive and high
  yield.
• Test, develop, and optimize chamber components
• Includes first wall and blanket, tritium
  breeding, tritium recovery.
• Requires thermal management (125 MWth).
• Electricity production (300-400 MW) with
  potential for high availability.
• Chamber with blanket and electrical generator
  (1250 MWth).
• Laser, final optics and target technologies
  should be mature and reliable by now

25
ETF-Tasks 1 2 (driver demo and optimize gain)
Target fabrication injection. DEMO Scale.
Capable of continuous 5 Hz runs
Target factory
Laser DEMO Scale 2.2 MJ gt 106 shots MTBF for
entire system (Beam lines gt 108 from Phase II)
OPTIMIZE TARGETS FOR HIGH GAIN Single shot and
burst mode
Final Optics DEMO Scale (Full LIDT threat
debris)
Chamber see next Viewgraph
26
ETF-First Generation Chamberfor Tasks 1, 2,
andTask 3 (materials/components blanket
development)
FIRST WALL (6.5 m radius) Full laser energy
yield (250 MJ) 10 shot bursts _at_ 5 Hz 105
shots lt 0.02 micron erosion/shot Full laser
energy with 10 yield 107shots at 5 Hz
negligible erosion/shot Design allows annual
replacement
BLANKET / COOLING 125 MWth (10 yield _at_ 5
Hz) Breed Tritium (Sombrero TBR 1.25 (LiO2)
COULD BE CTF?
27
ETF-Task 4 (Electricity Production)
Upgrade chamber materials based on RD Upgrade
to best blanket to come out of RD Upgrade
chamber cooling (125MW to 1.3 GW
thermal) Generate 300-400 MW electricity (expect
250 MW net to Grid by 2028)
28
Cost Breakdown for ETF KrF laser
29
Cost Breakdown for ETF DPPSL
The ETF costs were estimated using the NIF cost
basis

• NIF Elements
• Facility
• Driver
• - Optics
• - Optical pump
• - Pulsed power
• - Gain media
• - Cooling
• - KDP
• - Pockels cell
• - Deformable mirror
• - Front end
• Controls and
• data acquisition
• Diagnostics

DPSSL costs Similar Similar Much more (diodes
vs flashlamps) More (rep-rated efficient design)
More (crystals vs glass) More (gas flow vs
passive cooling) Similar Similar Similar Similar
Similar Similar
Total 1.5 B 1.5 1.0 (diodes) 0.5
(misc contingency)
Projected driver costs for - ETF is 3.0 B, 1st
of kind - IFE plant is 1.0 B, 10th of kind
(500/J)
30
Cost Breakdown for ETF other technologies
31
Elements, Cost, Schedule to develop Laser
Fusion Energy
Phase I 140 M
Phase II 650M(65M/yr)
Phase III ETF 4,947 M (350M/yr)
DEMO 1,000M ??
Lasers 105 M
NIF
Targets 15 M
?
?
DESIGN
CONST
OPERATION
Laser Facility 275M (laser) 27 M (chamber)
Optics 4.8 M
Chamber 7.0 M
DESIGN
CONST
OPERATION
?
Target Facility 99 M
Target Physics 100 M
Materials 6.8 M
Other Comp 150 M
32
Criteria to go from ETF to DEMO

• Demonstrate gain reproducibility required for
  commercial fusion power
• Demonstrate integrated operation of critical
  components--
• ...laser target fabrication chamber...
• 3. Extends to reliable and economically
  attractive approach for commercial electricity.

33
Description of Laser IFE DEMO
Could employ the core of the ETF laser driver,
target fab, injection, etc with mods optimized
for commercial application rather than research.
Components optimized for commercial power
generation. Given the potential capability for
the ETF, DEMO could be a second generation plant
with significant industrial investment.
34
Elements, Cost, Schedule to develop Laser
Fusion Energy
Phase I 140 M
Phase II 650M(65M/yr)
Phase III ETF 4,947 M (350M/yr)
DEMO 1,000M ??
DESIGN
CONSTRUCTION
OPERATION
Lasers 105 M
ETF Laser 3,000 M (inc building)
NIF
DES
CONST
OPERATION
Targets 15 M
Target Factory Injector 339 M
?
?
CONST
OPERATION
DES
1st Chamber 145 M
DESIGN
CONST
OPERATION
Laser Facility 275M (laser) 27 M (chamber)
Optics 4.8 M
Optimize Yield 100M
Blanket Dev 200 M
Chamber 7.0 M
DESIGN
CONST
OPERATION
?
Target Facility 99 M
OP
DES
CONST
Electricity 638 M
Target Physics 100 M
Materials 6.8 M
Other Comp 150 M
35
Elements, Cost, Schedule to develop Laser
Fusion Energy
Phase I 140 M
Phase II 650M(65M/yr)
Phase III ETF 4,947 M (350M/yr)
DEMO 1,000M ??
Lasers 105 M
NIF
Targets 15 M
?
?
Optics 4.8 M
Chamber 7.0 M
?
Target Physics 100 M
Materials 6.8 M
Other Comp 150 M