Full-fledged effort begins

NIF test-fired the system in February 2009, and began its full-fledged effort to achieve fusion in 2010. Ultimately, NIF will conduct as many as two to three firings per day. Interestingly, because of the extremely short duration of each blast, the facility will be performing its high-energy function only for a total of three-hundredths of a second over the course of a year.

Even if NIF doesn’t forge a path to fusion energy, though, its experiments will contribute important data to support the U.S. government's effort to ensure the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear deterrent, Moses says. The results could also help unlock the secrets of the cosmos by simulating conditions within supernovas, in the event horizons of black holes, and in the cores of giant planets. Most results will be unclassified, providing previously unobtainable data to the world’s research community.