ON March 9, 2009, a staggering 2 trillion watts of electrical power—4 times more power than the United States uses at any instant in time—surged through the National Ignition Facility (NIF) to generate the intense light that powers the laser. At that moment, 192 laser beams raced down the beam path and converged to deliver an immense blast of energy onto a tiny target. This test shot was a key milestone for NIF, fulfilling one of its first critical design specifications. Five months later, in August, Livermore scientists began executing experiments at NIF aimed at ensuring the Laboratory could deliver on one of its key missions: to maintain the nation’s nuclear deterrent in the absence of further underground nuclear weapons testing.
This exceptional laser system makes it possible for scientists to explore physical regimes never before seen in a laboratory setting. Every year, researchers conduct experiments at NIF that are essential to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP). In doing so, they advance our national security and the field of high-energy-density (HED) science. They also enable advances in astrophysics, planetary physics, hydrodynamics, and materials science. NIF’s unique capabilities include flexible and repeatable experimental configurations, precision target fabrication and metrology, and advanced diagnostics. Such capabilities enable stockpile stewards from all three NNSA laboratories to execute experiments that deliver data in relevant regimes previously inaccessible to SSP. Weapons researchers are now able to measure the phase, strength, and equation of state of plutonium and other weapons-relevant materials at extreme pressures, densities, and temperatures. The data from those experiments are used to validate three-dimensional weapons simulation codes and inform life-extension programs (LEPs), the regularly planned refurbishments of nuclear weapons systems to ensure long-term reliability.
Much of NIF’s success can be attributed to the Livermore scientists and engineers who have driven significant enhancements to NIF operations and experimental capabilities over the last 10 years. Their accomplishments have made the facility more efficient while expanding the depth and breadth of scientific applications. Such innovation has led to outstanding contributions in HED science and groundbreaking experiments in many of the Laboratory’s mission areas.