LAWMAKERS PUSH OBAMA FOR NAT’L IGNITION FACILITY FUNDING

Seventeen lawmakers—all but one from California—late last week urged President Obama to provide “strong and sustained” funding for the National Ignition Facility and inertial confinement fusion activities at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In a letter to President Obama Friday, the lawmakers, led by Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), noted recent advancements at NIF, which has thus far failed to achieve ignition. Recent shots on the facility have been deemed a breakthrough on the path to ignition with the energy produced through the fusion reaction exceeding the amount of energy deposited into the fuel. “Just within the past few months, the NIF has recorded several record-breaking experimental shots,” the lawmakers wrote. “These newest results bring the experimental findings more closely in line with the theoretical models, highlighting a promising path forward for more groundbreaking high energy density physics. It is critical that we provide the resources necessary to continue this important work.”