by Jbs053109 e3 — June 3, 2009—Celebrating the economic, energy, and research advances that will come from the world’s largest, highest-energy laser system, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger returned May 29 to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to join in the dedication ceremony for its National Ignition Facility (NIF). After 12 years of construction and preparation, this research facility can create temperatures and pressures found only in the core of stars, giant planets, and inside nuclear weapons.
NIF’s 192 giant lasers are housed in a ten-story building the size of three football fields, and when focused on a hydrogen-filled target the size of a BB can create temperatures and pressures higher than those at the center of the sun, says the LLNL. By advancing fusion technology, this laser system will reportedly help unlock the potential for a clean, carbon-free, limitless, and environmentally friendly energy source, while maintaining and enhancing the United State’s nuclear capabilities without nuclear testing.
California’s economy will continue to benefit from the investments in the NIF, notes the governor’s office. The laser system supports 1,000 high-tech science and technology jobs in California and products from more than 800 California vendors have been purchased to build it.
For more information, see the Web site of the Governor’s office.
