March 17, 2014

LIVERMORE’S MOSES TO HEAD UP IGNITION APPLICATION EFFORT

By ExchangeMonitor

Former National Ignition Facility Director Ed Moses will head up an effort to explore the uses for ignition, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Parney Albright said yesterday. Moses was shifted out of his role as the NIF director earlier this year, and had served as the Principal Associate Director for NIF and Photon Science (NIF&PS) as officials reassessed the quest for ignition after the lab failed to reach the elusive goal in 2012 as planned. Moses’ work, however, will explore the commercial prospects for laser inertial fusion energy, bringing together “academia, national and international laboratories, commercial, utility and other interests to enable the maturation of the science, engineering and technology needed to understand and exploit fusion technologies and fusion energy,” the lab said in a statement. “We are committed to charting a course that takes advantage of the rapid progress we are making,” Albright added.

NIF&PS Principal Deputy Director Jeff Wisoff has been appointed to take Moses’ position as the acting Principal Associate Director for NIF&PS. Despite the fact that the lab has not achieved ignition and doesn’t appear likely to do so in the near future, Moses suggested now is the time to begin exploring its uses beyond the experimental realm. “This is a pivotal time for this field,” he said. “Experimental results obtained at NIF have given us confidence that our inertial confinement fusion program is making great progress. We have demonstrated self-heating of an ignition target. I am looking forward to working with others to bring to fruition the 50-year goal of fusion energy.”

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