The big shot at the National Ignition Facility

This is a historic moment for alternative energy at Lawrence Livermore National Labs

What is the size of three football fields and has 192 Laser beams? It’s the NIF, which stands for the National Ignition Facility, a simple acronym for a complex energy generation project.

As some of you may know, I write about a lot more than just RV electricity. I have decades of experience with 3-phase industrial power and electro/mechanical robotic controls, as well as solar and battery charging systems. And I’ve also begun test driving a number of pure electric and hybrid/electric vehicles over the last year, with new towing tests coming in the near future. While electric vehicles are being heralded as the wave of the future, in 10 years there will be millions of EVs on the road that need to be charged.

So just where is all the needed electricity going to come from?

Well, I’m not going to cover that complex topic in this short newsletter. So I’m just going to celebrate this fusion shot at Lawrence Livermore National Labs that was heard ‘round the world a few days ago. Yes, on December 5, 2022, the NIF was able to create a net energy gain with a blast of 192 laser beams on a tiny deuterium-tritium pellet. Big boom creates a tiny sun right here on earth.

One of my colleagues at Lawrence Livermore National Labs called it similar to the Wright Brother’s test flight at Kitty Hawk. I just call it the big boom I’ve been reading about for decades. And like that first powered flight, technical advances from the NIF should now come faster and faster. Just don’t expect it to power your house anytime soon. But I am looking forward to clean power in a few decades that doesn’t create nuclear waste or carbon emissions.

So watch this 4 minute video on the sheer scale of the NIF and a hint of just how complex it is. And once I learn more about it, I’ll do an in-depth article for the masses. Yes, I have an invitation to visit the National Ignition Facility the next time I’m in that part of the country. I can hardly wait!

Let’s play safe out there - Mike