MOMAU009
LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
A Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) facility point design is being developed at LLNL to support an Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) based energy concept. This will build upon the technical foundation of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most energetic laser system. NIF is designed to compress fusion targets to conditions required for thermonuclear burn. The LIFE control systems will have an architecture partitioned by sub-systems and distributed among over 1000’s of front-end processors, embedded controllers and supervisory servers. LIFE’s automated control subsystems will require interoperation between different languages and target architectures. Much of the control system will be embedded into the subsystem with well defined interface and performance requirements to the supervisory control layer. An automation framework will be used to orchestrate and automate start-up and shut-down as well as steady state operation. The LIFE control system will be a high parallel segmented architecture. For example, the laser system consists of 384 identical laser beamlines in a "box". The control system will mirror this architectural replication for each beamline with straightforward high-level interface for control and status monitoring. Key technical challenges will be discussed such as the injected target tracking and laser pointing feedback. This talk discusses the the plan for controls and information systems to support LIFE.
LLNL-CONF-476451
LLNL, Livermore, California, USA
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the world largest and most energetic laser system for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). In 2010, NIF began ignition experiments using cryogenically cooled targets containing layers of the tritium-hydrogen-deuterium (THD) fuel. The 75 μm thick layer is formed inside of the 2 mm target capsule at temperatures of approximately 18 K. The ICF target designs require sub-micron smoothness of the THD ice layers. Formation of such layers is still an active research area, requiring a flexible control system capable of executing the evolving layering protocols. This task is performed by the Cryogenic Target Subsystem (CTS) of the NIF Integrated Computer Control System (ICCS). The CTS provides cryogenic temperature control with the 1 mK resolution required for beta layering and for the thermal gradient fill of the capsule. The CTS also includes a 3-axis x-ray radiography engine for phase contrast imaging of the ice layers inside of the plastic and beryllium capsules. In addition to automatic control engines, CTS is integrated with the Matlab interactive programming environment to allow flexibility in experimental layering protocols. The CTS Layering Matlab Toolbox provides the tools for layer image analysis, system characterization and cryogenic control. The CTS Layering Report tool generates qualification metrics of the layers, such as concentricity of the layer and roughness of the growth boundary grooves. The CTS activities are automatically coordinated with other NIF controls in the carefully orchestrated NIF Shot Sequence.
LLNL-CONF-477418