Brian H wrote:
Inertial fusion necessarily involves implosion of individual ‘pills’ of material, doesn’t it? The only suggested mechanisms I’ve seen for repetitive, controlled implosions seem to depend on unheard-of levels of mechanical precision and durability. That seems to me to introduce exponentially increasing opportunities for breakdown and the need for unobtainium.
From a machine-builder’s perspective, attempting to improve mechanical precision anywhere near that far is worthy scientific investigation in it’s own right. Now throw in the power and control systems, and NIF starts looking a lot less like a political patronage (machine politics) and laser weapons project.
