Big Ideas Lab - NIF Sustainment

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

How do you maintain a facility built to achieve the impossible? In this episode, we explore the National Ignition Facility Sustainment Project—a mission to preserve and enhance one of the most advanced laser systems ever created. Discover how scientists at the National Ignition Facility keep this technological marvel running, overcoming challenges of aging systems to ensure it remains a cornerstone of innovation and a vital asset to the nation’s security.-- Big Ideas Lab is a Mission.org original series. Executive Produced by Lacey Peace and Levi Hanusch.Sound Design, Music Edit and Mix by Daniel Brunelle. Story Editing by Daniel Brunelle. Audio Engineering and Editing by Matthew Powell. Narrated by Matthew Powell. Video Production by Levi Hanusch. Guests featured in this episode (in order of appearance): Jean Michel Di Nicola, Co-Program Director for Laser Science and Systems Engineering at NIF, LLNLGordon Brunton, National Ignition Facility Director, LLNLJeff Horner, Project Manager for the NIF Sustainment Project, LLNLLarry Pelz, Deputy Group Leader for Laser Science Systems Engineering, LLNLBrought to you in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

It's June, 1999. A giant crane towers over a construction site at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This isn't just any crane. It's a 14-story, 900-ton machine. Once used to lower nuclear weapons for underground testing at the Nevada Test Site, it now has a new purpose. Helping to construct an experimental facility that ensures the nation's nuclear arsenal remains safe and secure. No testing required. Slowly, the crane begins to lower its monumental payload, a 10-meter diameter 143- ton target chamber. Waiting below is the shell of a building and a team of engineers and technicians, their

eyes fixed on the massive sphere as it descends. Every millimeter of the chamber's placement is critical. Nothing could be out of alignment. When the target chamber finally settled into place, it marked one of the most significant milestones in the construction of the National Ignition Facility, or NIF. This chamber would become the heart of NIF, an experimental facility unlike anything ever created before. Once operational, NIF would be able to replicate temperatures and pressures

found only in the core of stars or during the detonation of nuclear weapons. Conditions critical to advancing science and ensuring the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile. But this milestone in 1999 was just one chapter in a much longer story. Year by year, the pieces of NIF came together. In 2000, the facility's main building was completed. By 2003, the Laser Bay architecture began to take shape. In 2008, the last of the 192 laser beam lines were installed. And in 2009, NIF fired its first large-scale experiments.

At NIF, every experiment is a masterpiece of precision. The facility is the size of three football fields, and inside, 192 lasers travel a mile through massive beam lines to converge on a hole room containing a 2mm fuel capsule. Their alignment must be flawless, with beams arriving within less than half the width of a human hair of each other. Since 2009, this extraordinary feat of engineering has been repeated more than 5,000 times. And along the way, NIF achieved something once thought impossible.

Scientists inside the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory may have achieved something extraordinary, something they've spent decades trying to do. Fusion ignition. Researchers here at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory fired 192 lasers at a small frozen pellet of hydrogen. Generating more energy from the fusion reaction than the energy delivered by the laser. This development is one step closer to a clean energy future. But time takes its toll, even on the most finely tuned instruments.

At NIF, the challenge isn't reinvention, it's preservation, and the story of how it's done is as extraordinary as the experiments themselves. Welcome to the Big Ideas Lab, your weekly exploration inside Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Hear untold stories, meet boundary-pushing pioneers, and get unparalleled access inside the gates. From national security challenges to computing revolutions, discover the innovations that are shaping tomorrow, today.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is opening its doors to a new wave of talent. If you're driven by curiosity and a desire to solve complex challenges, the lab has a job opening for you. Currently, there are 139 open positions. These include opportunities in science, engineering, business, administration, and the skilled trades. From enhancing national security to pioneering new energy sources and advancing scientific frontiers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is where you can make your mark on the world. Today's open roles include lead power grid engineer, laser modeling physicist,

postdoctoral researcher, OCEC program leader, and chief data architect. But the list doesn't end there. Explore all available positions at LLNL.gov forward slash careers. Each opportunity comes with a comprehensive benefits package tailored to your lifestyle and future. Join a workplace that champions professional growth, fosters collaboration, inspires innovation, and drives the pursuit of excellence. If you are ready to contribute to work that matters,

visit LLNL.gov forward slash careers to explore all the current job listings. That's LLNL.gov forward slash careers. Your expertise could very well be the highlight of our next podcast interview. Don't wait. The idea for the National Ignition Facility began decades ago with physicist John Knuckles. He and his colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory theorized that lasers could be the key to unlocking the immense power of fusion. At the time, fusion had been achieved in nuclear weapons, but the challenge of triggering it without a nuclear reaction remained unsolved.

So that's really when it started in the 60s. And they were working on deterrence. And they were looking at ways to trigger fusion reaction and have peaceful use of fusion reactions that would be triggered by a non-nuclear primary reaction. That's Jean-Michel Dinacola, the co-program director for laser science and systems engineering at NIF. And so they looked at many options, and when the laser was demonstrated,

they had an ah moment because they said, well, it checks all the boxes. It's a focused source of energy. We can use that source of energy over a short period of time, tens of billions of a second. This breakthrough led to a series of record-setting lasers that became the foundation for NIF. Completed in 2009, the National Ignition Facility began with a major goal, to achieve fusion ignition for the purpose of national security. Over the next 15 years, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory worked tirelessly to push

the boundaries of high energy density physics and move closer to achieving this goal. Fusion ignition means that we actually can generate more energy out from the experiment than it actually took to drive with the laser. And that was what we accomplished back in December 2022 for the first time ever in the world, where we actually got more energy out. We got three units of energy out for only putting in two units of laser energy. That's Gordon Brunton, the National Ignition Facility Director. His job is to oversee and maintain the world's most energetic laser.

With Einstein's E equals mc squared, we prove that this is possible to get more out with the use of some mass from the target fuel capsule. Einstein's E equals mc squared shows us that mass and energy are interchangeable. In this experiment, a tiny portion of the fuel's mass was transformed into a massive amount of energy, which explains how much more energy can come out than what was originally put in. Similar conditions exist in the sun, and they also exist in nuclear weapons. We use these conditions to test our theories to make sure we have a safe,

secure, and viable deterrent if we ever had to need it. Nowhere else on Earth will you find access to the types of conditions achievable at NIF. This unique capability allows scientists to conduct experiments that continue to ensure the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile, continue to ensure the safety and reliability of the nation's nuclear stockpile without the need for underground testing, making it an essential part of maintaining national security. Basically, NIF is the only instrument where we can push the cursor

in terms of pressure and temperatures. There is nowhere else. Again, the temperature that we generate are more than 10 times temperature at the center of the sun. But thousands of experiments at extreme temperatures and pressures have taken their toll. Jeff Horner, project manager for the NIFS Sustainment Project, explains the challenge. There are significant systems that need to be taken apart and sustained to have some maintenance. But while we're doing that, we wanna continue operating the system

to support users' experiments. And so those two are, by their very nature, at odds with each other, right? To run the system, you need to not take it apart. And so that's the challenge of sustainment. But Lawrence Livermore has a plan. The NIF sustainment project involves far more than routine maintenance of the facility. It demands significant refurbishment to ensure the facility continues to meet its goals.

Think of it like owning a modern car. It's built for reliability, but requires regular upkeep to perform at its best. Routine oil changes and tune-ups keep it running smoothly over the miles. At NIF, this routine care happens during facility maintenance and refurbishment periods, which occur three times a year and last one to three weeks. However, even the most reliable car eventually needs more extensive maintenance, like replacing major parts that routine checks can't fix. Delaying this work risks pushing the vehicle past its limits, but handling it requires taking the car off the road while it's being worked on. The same principle applies to NIF. Routine maintenance keeps it operational,

but age and wear have impacted capabilities and push the facility closer to its limit. NIF sustainment calls for extended maintenance, multiple periods lasting 6-10 weeks over a number of years, essential for the long term health and use of NIF. 2 to 4x is the number of proposals that we get to test different physics theories. Because of the enormous demand for access from the scientific community, the National Ignition Facility operates around the clock, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The constant unrelenting schedule takes its toll. Every component from the amplifiers to the final optics assembly is under immense strain. The way the amplifiers work is that there's flash

lamps that illuminate the amplifier glass and then when the laser beam moves through that glass it's amplified. And so between the flash lamps and the amplifier glass there's a glass shield. Each of NIF's 192 high energy laser beams travels over a mile long path, bouncing off countless mirrors and passing through dozens of amplifiers. These beams begin as weak pulses in a master oscillator, but are amplified to over a trillion times

their original energy by the time they strike their target. This process places stress on the system's components. The flash lamps which pump energy into the laser beams are shielded from debris by blast shields. These shields protect the amplifier glass where the beams gain their power. Over time however the system faces challenges due to wear and tear. Blast shields are critical for protecting the amplifier glass from debris and intense flashes of light. These are facing issues due to degradation.

The blast shields were put in as a system that wouldn't be replaced. They were built over in another building and then the whole system was brought in and installed into the NIF. And so those blast shields, there's a seal that is particulating when it's hit with flash lamp light. The sealant on the blast shields has begun to degrade, shedding particles that affect both the flash lamps and the amplifier glass. This has necessitated a complete replacement of the blast shield to maintain the system's efficiency.

The amplifier glass pieces are getting some contaminants on them. The amplifier glass collects microscopic contaminants each time the flash lamps fire. Over time, these contaminants scatter the laser light and reduce beam intensity. To address this, engineers are developing advanced cleaning and recoating processes

to restore the performance of the glass labs. Refurbishing the blast shields will also prevent them from further generating debris. We're going to pull those out, disassemble that, line replaceable unit, pull the pieces of glass out, and then again, building new capabilities in our optics processing. We'll clean those, recode them, put them back into the beam line. Replacing the blast shields is no small task because they were not originally designed to be removed.

Those systems we've found now need to be pulled out. And so our sustainment team is designing a piece of equipment that will grab this blast shield glass and its frame and pull it out. And then by the same token, that same piece of equipment that will grab this blast shield glass and its frame and pull it out. And then by the same token, that same piece of equipment will put the new one back in." With nearly 1,800 blast shields and 3,000 slabs of amplifier glass, each measuring 80x40cm and weighing 100 pounds, this refurbishment represents a massive undertaking. Beyond the amplifiers, another critical part of NIF's laser system faces its own set of challenges.

The final optics assembly, which contains four integrated optic modules or IOMs. So close to the target chamber, we have what we call the final optic assembly, which are the components near the targets. NIF has a total of 192 IOMs, one for each beam line. and the shifted from red to green and then green to blue, before being focused down from a square roughly 40 cm wide to a beam as thin as a human hair. And we also saw significant debris accumulation because some of the volumes are in direct

communication with the target chamber. So when the target is vaporized and we have high velocity particles ejected. Those debris accumulates and are pampering and lowering the performance of the final optics. To protect these sensitive components, the IOM is equipped with several shields that must be regularly removed, repaired, and reinstalled. However, over time, the entire module has accumulated a large amount of debris, some of which originates from the experiments themselves, while other sources of debris remain under investigation. Each of NIF's 192 IOMs will be removed, refurbished, and replaced. Another huge undertaking.

This ongoing work is just one example of the careful maintenance and innovation required to keep NIF at the cutting edge of laser science and experimentation. These challenges highlight a deeper issue. NIF was built with cutting-edge technology, but that was over 20 years ago. Some supporting facilities are over 40 years old. Now, critical components that were once top of the line are reaching the end of their useful life. And maintaining performance in an aging system is getting harder every day. As the result of operating the system for a decade plus, and we've seen some level of degradation, as we've moved into the ignition phase where we're seeing higher neutrons produced from a target,

we're seeing additional risk to some electronics that are damaged by neutrons. But it's not just about replacing damaged parts or finding ways to replace systems that weren't meant to be removed. Equipment within the facility is facing another problem. Obsolescence. within the facility is facing another problem, obsolescence. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory invites you to join a diverse team of professionals. The lab is currently hiring for a lead power grid engineer, a laser modeling physicist, postdoctoral researcher, an OCEC program leader, a chief data architect, and 139 other positions for scientists, engineers, IT experts, administrative and business professionals, welders, and more. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, your contributions are not just jobs.

They're a chance to make an impact from strengthening US security to leading the charge in revolutionary energy solutions and expanding the boundaries of scientific knowledge. The lab values collaboration, innovation, and excellence, offering a supportive workspace and comprehensive benefits to ensure your well- wellbeing and secure your future. Seize the opportunity to help solve something monumental. Dive into the wide variety of job openings at LLNL.gov forward slash careers. This is your chance to join a team dedicated to a mission that matters.

That's LLNL.gov forward slash careers. Your expertise might just be the spotlight in our next podcast interview. Don't delay. So, you can imagine that the systems that were bleeding edge back in the early 2000s when we built them are now kind of reaching the point of obsolescence. The National Ignition Facility is pushing the boundaries of scientific discovery. From its inception, many milestones in its development have required the creation of entirely new technologies.

This means the challenges the facility faces aren't just difficult, they're unprecedented. Each step forward reveals new complexities requiring bold ideas and innovative breakthroughs. This ongoing mission of NIF's sustainment is a meticulous effort to restore the facility to meet its original, ambitious design specifications. A task that involves reimagining and perfecting systems that were themselves revolutionary at the time of their creation. At NIF, problem solving isn't just a necessity, it's a continuous act of invention. It's really taking a facility that is using technology that was state of the art 20 years ago and in many cases may not even be available right now.

And so we really have to make sure that the laser is capable of focus of operating 24-7, right, and that we're using technology that is readily available. That's Larry Pels, the deputy group leader for laser science systems engineering. He's been working on the NIF laser system for the past 15 years. And so for part of sustainment is looking at areas where the facility is either aging or technologies have become obsolete and looking at bringing in new technologies and replacing these obsolete or antiquated technologies. But finding the right replacement parts isn't always straightforward. In many cases, the original suppliers either no longer exist or can't meet the current

demands. During the sustainment process, one of the things that we're finding is that many of the component suppliers don't exist or don't have the capabilities. As we look at that, we have to figure out what the right way to address that is. There's little room for error when conducting experiments at NIF, where precision and reliability are everything. It has an experimental success rate of over 95% and fewer than 30 days of unplanned downtime in over 15 years of shot operations. And we observe that degradations in our systems, increased

failures, etc. that caused us to be able to shoot less shots per year. And so we started observing a kind of trend that we wanted to take seriously and so get on top of it. And we started doing a comprehensive assessment of all our systems, looking at failure rates, looking at sparing that we have on this back in 2019. And then we kind of rank ordered the systems that were at biggest risk to our continued operation.

The results of that assessment led to a major planning effort involving the refurbishment of critical systems, including laser amplifiers, diagnostic equipment, utility systems, control electronics, and more. It comprises of about 30 large-scale projects that refurbish a lot of the equipment that's been very well-performing up until now. The goal is that we embark upon this, refurbish many of our critical systems

to allow us to continue operating at the current or even higher performance levels. 30 projects over several years, they range from cleaning debris to replacing parts with current technologies and materials. It is a serious investment in the facility and a vision for the future needs of the Stockpile Stewardship Program. The projects are listed out in order of risk to the machine

so that the most important jobs get done first. So we've done a risk assessment of the different areas of NIF. In a five-year horizon, what's the risk or the probability that a system will fail and cause an extended downtime for NIF? Not only will these 30 projects focus on replacing aging parts, but they will also develop a new generation of experts

to tackle future challenges. With many of the original team members having moved on, NIF will be pushing forward with fresh eyes and fresh hands, ensuring the facility remains on the cutting edge. The workforce that built NIF, the engineers, the physicists, that was 20 years ago and many of them have moved on, have retired, have fading recollections of the details back of the initial build. The team at NIF looks at this as another opportunity to build up a new generation of scientists and engineers. It is also taking a staff that is less familiar with the systems that we're sustaining or maintaining and giving them the opportunity

to learn and become experts on the systems. Something extraordinary is happening at NIF. Every day the world's brightest minds gather here to test new theories and push the boundaries of human understanding, all in service to the nation's security mission. Achieving fusion ignition in 2022 was a historic milestone, unlocking unprecedented opportunities in high energy density physics. This breakthrough has directly advanced the National Nuclear Security Administration's science-based stockpile stewardship program. We demonstrated the first proof of principle. Challenges are numerous in front of us, but they

are also very exciting. The successful completion of sustainment is essential to carrying out a proposed upgrade to NIF that would allow its laser energy to be raised, unlocking fusion yields more than ten times greater than that of the first ignition experiment. This work ensures not just the sustainment of an extraordinary facility, but the sustainment of hope. Hope for a safer, more secure world. As we look forward, one thing is clear. The story of NIF is not just about sustaining the past.

It's about igniting the future. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is opening its doors to a new wave of talent. Whether you're a scientist, an IT professional, a welder, an administrative or business professional, or an engineer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has an opportunity for you. From enhancing national security to pioneering new energy sources and advancing scientific frontiers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is where you can make your mark on the world. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's culture is rooted in collaboration, innovation, and the pursuit of excellence. We offer a work environment that supports your professional growth and a benefits package that looks after your well-being and future. Are you ready to contribute to work that matters?

Visit LLNL.gov forward slash careers to explore current job openings and learn more about the application process. Don't miss the chance to be a part of a mission driven team working on projects that make the impossible possible. Visit LLNL.gov forward slash careers now to view the current job listings. Remember that's LLNL.gov forward slash careers. Your expertise could be the highlight of our next podcast interview. Don't wait, explore the possibilities today. Thank you for tuning in to Big Ideas Lab. If you loved what you heard, please let us know by leaving a rating and review.

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