November 13, 2008

Governor tours Livermore Lab

Laser may prove best power source

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the Bay Area this week for a tour of a new laser facility at Lawrence Livermore Labs that may prove to be the answer to some of the country’s energy problems.

The governor joined former Secretary of State George Shultz for a private, classified briefing by Laboratory Director George Miller on the lab’s operations. The lab is famous for its nuclear work and is steward of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

After the briefing, Schwarzenegger and Shultz were given a tour of the new laser facility, by Ed Moses, principal associate director of the National Ignition Facility, and Ralph Patterson, its project director. Set to begin operating next March, the laser facility is about three football fields in length. Powerful laser beams are steered toward the target chamber, where they ignite a hydrogen fuel pellet.

The lab broke ground on the facility in 1997, and it is now 99 percent complete. The lab’s first ignition attempt is set for 2010, with a goal of reaching nuclear fusion in 2011. It is different than a nuclear facility in that the atoms are fused rather than fractured and the process does not yield weapons nor spent nuclear fuel.

The laser facility has multiple missions: research to support the nuclear weapons stockpile, research into the origins of the universe, and research to help pave the way for the future use of fusion energy.

Moses showed the governor Laser Bay 1, which houses half of the facility’s 192 lasers. “Every one of these is the world’s most powerful, most energetic lasers,” Moses told the governor. “This is the target chamber. This is where all of these beams are coming down. That arm is where the target goes.”

The governor picked up a model of a target canister, and stared into it at. He also viewed a short video of the facility’s control room and an animated version of how the laser beams approach the target and ignite into a fiery ball of energy.

Laboratory Director George Miller said the National Ignition Facility “represents the culmination of more than 50 years by the scientists of the world to achieve fusion in the laboratory — building a miniature sun in the laboratory.” Moses said that energy security, and the creation of clean energy, is a key component of national security.

The governor read a statement praising the laboratory’s work, especially the laser project. He said that George Shultz had recommended that he visit the lab. The governor touched on the state’s energy woes. “It’s a big challenge for the state, because we have lots of dirty fuel and nonrenewable energy and a growing population,” he said. “Scientists will harness this fusion … and turn it into a viable, long-term energy source.”

He said that with fusion energy, there is no risk a nuclear meltdown and insignificant waste byproducts. “This is one of the things we need in this state,” the governor said. “We’re the world leaders in science and energy.” He said that in 10 or 12 years, a fusion demonstration project should be up and running.

“Just because fusion won’t be accomplished tomorrow, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it,” Schwarzenegger said. “It just means that we have to keep working on it … With this fusion energy, we’ll achieve ignition in the next year or so, we’ll have a demonstration project in the next 10 years or so, and then we’ll be able to put it on the grid. This is a mind-blowing technology.

“In the meantime, we’ve got to continue to work on renewable energy. We want to reduce our reliance on carbon fuels and dirty coal and increase our use of solar, geothermal and wind power… That’s what our million solar roofs program is about.”

The governor said that he hopes to reduce the bureaucratic obstacles that lead to delays in the permitting process for alternative energy sources. “We need to get rid of the obstacle of agencies tripping over each other,” he said.