Reply To: Investment risk

[asymmetric_implosion]

Gorgon can model a PF until you reach the implosion. It is, in principle, no better than any of the other large lab codes. Gorgon has been used on Z-pinches for some time now at Imperial College and more recently at Sandia. My group submitted a proposal to DOE to work with the Imperial College guys to model the PF adding onto Gorgon so it can model the pinch using PIC methods, but I don’t think the funding folks are behind it based upon the latest feedback. PF is too “well known” to be worth studying at the 5 MA) is too uncertain. All in all it is the view of DOE reviewers that PF isn’t going to work for the problems of interest for DOE/NNSA. NIF is the only cathedral anyone cares about right now. If your experiments are not supporting NIF and/or not scalable to NIF then please see the door. I have to hand it to Livermore; they marketed NIF beautifully at DOE and around the world. At the HEDLA meeting everyone was buzzing about NIF and what it will do. To be fair, they have done some amazing things with radiative shocks and extremely high pressure compression at low temperature. My primary concern is the cost. NIF cost like $4B while a pulse power machine costs more like $40M.