Seminar: Fusion Power: Opportunities and Challenges

The achievement of fusion break-even at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has triggered a wave of interest in the popular media about the promise it holds for limitless abundant energy. However, many challenges remain before fusion power can move from the laboratory to the power plant. In this talk I will review the fundamentals of fusion energy, discuss the recent breakthroughs at the NIF, and discuss the ways that the nuclear physics community can help contribute to the advancement of fusion power.