A Laboratory Microfusion Capability for the U.S. ICF Program

The last five years have seen remarkable technical progress in the U.S. Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program, sufficient to motivate the Congress to call for two comprehensive program reviews within that period. Encouraged by this progress, the Department of Energy (DOE) is directing the Laboratory Microfusion Capability (LMC) Study with the objectives of defining the next major facility of the program (the Laboratory Microfusion Facility, or LMF), and elucidating the issues around LMF development. This presentation reviews the progress of the LMC Study and discusses several current planning activities.