Conceptual laser controlled thermonuclear reactor power plant

The design of a conceptual 1000 MWe laser-fusion power plant is presented.Twenty-four reactor cavities, based on the wetted-wall concept, are included in this facility.Fusion pellets producing 100 MJ of thermonuclear energy release per microexplosion are ignited by 1-MJ laser pulses at the rate of 1.2 per second in each of the reactor cavities.Laser pulses are provided by a central laser system which serves all reactor cavities and which is based on short-pulse CO2 laser technology.Important considerations which led to design choices included component reliability, redundancy of essential components, access to components for service and/or replacement, and minimization of hazards from radioactive materials.I.