Longview fusion energy systems: commercializing laser fusion by building on the historic success at the National Ignition Facility

Fusion Breakthrough: On December 5, 2022, at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), an historic event unfolded—the world's first demonstration of fusion with energy gain—more fusion energy out than the energy required to initiate the fusion burn. This groundbreaking achievement was the culmination of decades of effort dating back to the invention of the laser in 1960, which was soon followed by the development of the concept of using lasers to drive fusion reactions. This historic demonstration at NIF, which has since been repeated several times, confirms the physics basis for fusion power production using the indirect drive target illumination approach. This is the ‘existential’ step on the path to enabling commercialization of fusion as a safe, carbon-free, baseload energy source for future generations.