Overview and status of the power conditioning system for the National Ignition Facility

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) Power Conditioning System (PCS) is a modular capacitive energy storage system that provides over 34 kilojoules of energy to each of the nearly 8000 flashlamps in the NIF laser. Up to 400 megajoules of energy can be stored in the NIF PCS system, discharged through spark gaps and delivered to the flashlamps through a coaxial transmission line system requiring nearly 100 miles of high-voltage cable. The NIF PCS has been under development for nearly 4 years. During this time, the system was developed and designed by Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, NM (SNLA) in conjunction with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Extensive reliability testing was performed at SNLA on the First Article NIF Test Module (FANTM) test facility and design improvements were implemented based on FANTM test results, leading to the final design presently undergoing system reliability testing at LLNL. Low-cost energy-storage capacitors, charging power supplies, and reliable, fault-tolerant components were developed through partnerships with numerous contractors. Extensive reliability and fault testing of components has also been performed. This paper provides an overview of the many efforts that have culminated in the final design of the NIF PCS. The PCS system design will be described and the cost tradeoffs discussed. Plans for fabrication and installation of the NIF PCS system over the next 6 years will be presented.

I. Introduction

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is a laser-driven inertial-fusion facility being built by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the United States Department of Energy as part of the Stockpile Stewardship Program. The NIF laser, shown in Figure 1, is a 192-beam, flashlamp-driven neodymium-glass laser that will produce 1.8 MJ of light on target. Each of the 192 beams of the NIF laser is amplified in two multi-pass amplifiers, the Master Amplifier and the Power Amplifier. The Master Amplifier and the Power Amplifier will house the 7680 flashlamps that are driven by a modular power conditioning system that was designed and developed by Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) in Albuquerque [1] in close collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Figure 1. The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.