UK Now In Laser Fusion Energy Trials Programme

UK-based nuclear researchers will now work in partnership with a laser lab in the US to advance what's envisaged as the next generation of clean energy technology. The collaboration will see them join forces with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) - a site where nuclear fusion trials have recently been carried out with lasers.

NIF's team of scientists believe the advent of market-ready laser-powered fusion is close and that, one day, the concept could filter into the mainstream. The addition of Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and AWE to their work formally cements the UK's involvement and the new partnership was announced at a meeting staged at the Royal Society in London, earlier in September 2011.

Here, UK Science Minister David Willetts, said: "This is an absolutely classic example of the connections between really high-grade theoretical scientific research, business and commercial opportunities, and of course a fundamental human need: tackling pressures that we're all familiar with on our energy supply."

Laser Fusion Trials

Laser fusion trials have already taken place at the US-based NIF. Here, enormous amounts of energy have been produced inside a structure as big as a football stadium, containing a 192-strong laser array.

Nuclear fusion takes place when Tritium and Deuterium are made to bond, producing a high-energy neutron that can subsequently heat water which, in turn, powers a steam turbine. Its advantages include sustainability, the total lack of greenhouse gas emissions and safety: with no energy being stored, there's no associated nuclear meltdown risk.

Laser Fusion Energy

Both the Rutherford Appleton Lab and AWE's facilities already boast high-intensity lasers that could figure in future nuclear fusion power experiments, while the UK currently project-leads the HiPER Project. HiPER (the High Power laser Energy Research facility) is presently being developed as a proof of concept site to showcase how laser-powered fusion is a viable energy source for the world of the future.

"We recognised several years ago with NIF... and the ignition that was likely to occur, that the profile of fusion would be raised", HiPER's director, John Collier, told the BBC. "We were thinking: 'what would be a way forward, how could Europe define a strategic route for laser power production to take advantage of these developments?' And that was the kernel of HiPER."

Image copyright©2011 - HiPER Project

See also:

Environmentally-Friendly Nuclear Fuel