Four decades, ICF has been predicted to reach break even at one kilojoule (kJ) of energy in 1972, then 5 kJ, 10kJ, 100kJ, 200kJ, and finally 1.8 MJ by 1979 and the construction of three generation of lasers that all proved the predictions wrong.
The NIF is the fourth shot at this, and has a target performance about an order of magnitude less power that what experimental tests (using nuclear weapons) indicate is needed to be directly supplied to the fuel.
The NIF is the fourth shot at this, and has a target performance about an order of magnitude less power that what experimental tests (using nuclear weapons) indicate is needed to be directly supplied to the fuel.