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Livermore director and lawmakers point to NIF fusion gain as reason to sustain lab infrastructure
Summary
Witnesses highlighted the National Ignition Facility's historic gain and called for investment to sustain experiments and modernize aging facilities needed to move fusion toward commercial application.
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers and the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory told a House Science subcommittee that last‑decade investments in fusion facilities enabled the National Ignition Facility's historic achievement and that further investment is needed to translate that scientific milestone into continued progress and an emerging fusion industry.
Kimberly Budil, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, told the panel that "achieving a fusion ignition and energy gain at NIF in December of 2022 was a historic event, 60 years in the making. This success was only possible with that sustained support over decades." Budil said the facility now needs refurbishment: "After 15 years of service and more than 4,500 experiments, the National Ignition…
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