DOE CSGF 2011: The path to fusion

Jeffrey Hittinger
Computational Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; DOE CSGF Alumnus

Achieving controlled, energy-producing nuclear fusion in the laboratory has for some time been a goal of the scientific community. Nuclear fusion could provide a cleaner, safer energy source than many of the currently deployed technologies. Of course, there are many challenges producing sustainable burning plasmas due to the many interacting physical processes. Simulation has and will continue to be an important tool in the understanding and development of fusion reactors. For the last decade, I have worked on computational plasma physics as it relates to both magnetic and inertial confinement fusion. In this talk, I will discuss how I came to work in this area, how the DOE CSGF program uniquely prepared me for these opportunities, and what computational challenges lie ahead for fusion simulation. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.