Basic Research Needs Workshop on Inertial Fusion Energy

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The 2013 NASEM report entitled “An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy” concluded that “The appropriate time for the establishment of a national, coordinated, broad-based inertial fusion energy program within DOE would be when ignition is achieved”. In 2021, the National Ignition Facility achieved a record yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) from fusion reactions, placing fusion via the inertial confinement concept on the cusp of ignition (laser energy breakeven). This breakthrough result coupled with the recent Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee recommendation to establish an IFE program provides a motivation for a Basic Research Needs Workshop (BRN) sponsored by the DOE Office of Science to assess the status of IFE and outline science and technology priority research opportunities.