Anonymously contributed:
What do you think of the Ed Moses presentation about LIFE? Will we really be able to unload any old kind of nuclear waste into a vessel, send a laser in, get out electricity and be left with almost no spent fuel to dispose of and have it be economical? Why is this being pushed now, before NIF has been demonstrated? Maybe to open up a new funding stream for NIF, since it is perpetually behind schedule and overbudget? Should there be a public peer-review of this concept?
What do you think of the Ed Moses presentation about LIFE? Will we really be able to unload any old kind of nuclear waste into a vessel, send a laser in, get out electricity and be left with almost no spent fuel to dispose of and have it be economical? Why is this being pushed now, before NIF has been demonstrated? Maybe to open up a new funding stream for NIF, since it is perpetually behind schedule and overbudget? Should there be a public peer-review of this concept?
Comments
I still have lots of questions such as how do you contain 100% of all the neutrons and then once you crap up the device how do you safely get back inside to refuel the reaction chamber. I'm assuming is a remote 100% robotic operation?
As many have said, it's clear that NIF is vital to the survival of the lab. In fact, they should just shut everything else down now and more honestly just focus on it - unless they actually need everyone elses taxes to survive.
Sounds like typical lab double talk to me. the big question is whether or not congress will be bamboozled again by Ed and company.
When I joined the old Laser Program Directorate in the early 1990s the project that became NIF was suppose to be the direct successor to Nova, which was not a weapons tool. Although Nova did do some classified shots, it was not directly funded by Defense Programs. So it seems that Ed wants to take NIF back to its roots as a science tool.
Could that be because stockpile stewardship money is drying up since they now realize it's not needed and have no intention of ever resurrecting it. The nation has more important issues to deal with like getting off crude forever.