Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on the Employment of the National Ignition Facility; VOLUME I [ONLY]

VOLUME I ONLY. [4], ii, 30 pages, plus covers. Figures. Cover has some wear and soiling. The National Ignition Facility (NIF), is a large laser-based inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research device, at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. NIF uses lasers to heat and compress a small amount of hydrogen fuel with the goal of inducing nuclear fusion reactions. NIF's mission is to achieve fusion ignition with high energy gain, and to support nuclear weapon maintenance and design by studying the behavior of matter under the conditions found within nuclear weapons. NIF is the largest and most energetic ICF device built to date, and the largest laser in the world. The concept of ICF devices is to rapidly collapse a small amount of fuel so the pressure and temperature reach fusion-relevant conditions. The laser energy is so intense that it causes the plastic to explode, squeezing down on the fuel inside. While marked Volume I, there is no indication that there were other volumes to this final report. World Cat and DTIC only list Volume I. The DSB Task Force was asked to: Assess the proposed ignition and non-ignition high energy density experimental physics programs at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Assess the program's executabitity, particularly with respect to the availability of NIF and supporting technologies. Assess the overall balance and priority of activities within the proposed plan and the degree to which the proposed program of NIF experiments supports the near- and long-term goats of stockpile stewardship. Assess the extent to which the major stakeholders in NIF are effectively integrated into the plan The National Ignition Facility and planned programs of high energy density work build on a 30-year program expanding understanding of astrophysics, and weapons physics.…