Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) nuclear engineer Charles Yeamans and co-authors have been recognized with the 2024 Nuclear Fusion Award for outstanding work published in the journal. The paper, "High yield polar direct drive fusion neutron sources at the National Ignition Facility," was published in 2021. Co-authors are G. Elijah Kemp, Zachary Walters, Heather Whitley, Patrick McKenty, Emma Garcia, Yujia Yang, Stephen Craxton and Brent Blue.
"It's an honor to have our work recognized," said Yeamans.
Starting with the purpose of developing a powerful, reliable neutron source for NIF neutron radiation effects experiments, the endeavor brought together experts in neutron radiation effects experiments with overlapping skills in lasers, targets, high energy-density (HED) physics and inertial confinement fusion (ICF). Publishing at an intermediate stage allowed the authorship group to independently explore specialized areas of HED physics, ICF and radiation effects applications.
"By combining our strengths, we were able to advance both fundamental science and practical experimental applications," Yeamans said. "The most rewarding aspect has been the ripple effects - the continuations, tangents and incorporations that have stemmed from our initial findings. Receiving this recognition is validating but humbling."
The journal article describes critical successes in producing extremely high fusion neutron fluences in short pulses, via the inertial fusion direct drive method at the National Ignition Facility. Direct drive is one of the key configurations currently being pursued to produce laser fusion energy, and the so-called polar direct drive (PDD) offers significant advantages over conventional indirect drive.
This PDD configuration presents many challenges in ICF physics: laser-plasma and hydrodynamic instabilities, cross-beam energy transfer and adapting a facility built for indirect drive to a direct drive fusion target. The paper presents promising results, with more than 1016 neutrons delivered, opening the route to further investigation with optimized cryogenic and non-cryogenic fusion designs.
The Nuclear Fusion Award is given annually to recognize outstanding work published in the journal from two years before the award year. The prize ceremony for this and the 2025 award will take place in October during the IAEA Fusion Energy Conference.
