San
Francisco Chronicle: The National Nuclear Security
Administration in charge of the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory has requested extended funding from the US Congress.
The National Ignition Facility at LLNL originally had a
deadline for the end of this year to achieve "ignition," or the
successful implosion of hydrogen fuel resulting in fusion.
After three years of experiments, that goal has not been
achieved, and the NNSA is asking for funding for another three
years. How close the facility is to success is a matter of some
debate, and the cost to date of the facility of more than $5
billion makes many members of Congress skeptical about the
likelihood of future success. NIF's
overall
goal is to attempt to re-create the effect of hydrogen
bombs in a controlled way so that the effects of the aging of
the US nuclear stockpile can be determined.
