The UK Inertial Fusion Energy Network

英国通过好奇心驱动的学术研究和培训、国家实验室主办的科学和技术活动以及与主要国际伙伴的许多合作，在惯性约束聚变（ICF）的发展中发挥了非常重要的作用。美国国家点火装置（NIF）的聚变点火前景促使英国有必要讨论如何利用其在聚变科学和技术方面（通常是世界领先的）专业知识来开发惯性聚变能（IFE）计划。IFE计划的长期目标是创造一种技术上和商业上可行的基于热核聚变的无碳能源，这可能是一项需要多国努力的艰巨任务。在磁约束聚变（MCF）领域，英国已经存在这样一个项目，并且有明确的领导、长期目标、科学和技术子项目、资金流以及与国际合作伙伴和工业界的联系。目前，英国还没有类似的IFE活动，该网络的一个关键目标是为IFE研究和开发提供更程序化的方法，并强调英国最适合产生重大国际影响的地方。我们的建议是将所有对惯性核聚变和支持技术感兴趣的英国科学和工业界的成员聚集在一起，开展一系列协调良好的网络活动，包括重点技术和科学研讨会以及大规模的社区会议。我们将强调英国学术界、国家实验室和工业最适合发挥世界领先作用的地方。我们将对英国IFE活动的短期、中期和长期目标以及潜在的领导地位进行全面和公开的讨论，我们将根据未来的资助情况和科学驱动因素（例如核聚变点火演示）制定一系列IFE战略。我们将参与社区建设和外展活动，以确定跨学科合作的机会（例如与MCF，第四代裂变和材料研究），并与工业界接触，突出他们也可以从中受益的地方，例如与国家实验室合作，获得并帮助商业化尖端技术。

The UK has played a very significant role in the development of Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) via a combination of curiosity driven academic research and training, scientific and technical activities hosted in national laboratories and through many collaborations with major international partners. The prospect for fusion ignition at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) has prompted the need to discuss how the UK could capitalise on its (often world leading) expertise in fusion science and technology to develop an Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) programme. The long term goal of an IFE programme would be to create a technically and commercially viable source of carbon free energy based on thermonuclear fusion, and this is likely to be a demanding undertaking requiring a multi-national effort. In the Magnetic Confinement Fusion (MCF) community such a programme already exists in the UK and has well defined leadership, long term goals, scientific and technical sub-programmes, funding streams and links to international partners and industry. There is currently no equivalent IFE activity in the UK and a key aim of this network will be to develop proposals for a more programmatic approach to IFE research and development, and highlight where the UK is best placed to have major international impact.Our proposal is to bring together all members of the UK's scientific and industrial communities with an interest in inertial fusion and supporting technologies in a series of well coordinated network activities including focused technical and scientific workshops and large scale community meetings. We will highlight where UK academics, national laboratories and industry are best placed to play world leading roles. A full and open discussion of the short, intermediate and long term goals and potential leadership of IFE activities in the UK will be held, and we will develop a series of strategies for IFE based on future funding scenarios and scientific drivers (e.g. a demonstration of fusion ignition). We will engage in community building and outreach activities that identify opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration (for example with MCF, Generation IV fission and materials research) and reach out to industry to highlight where they too can benefit, for example by partnering with national laboratories to gain access to and help commercialise cutting edge technologies.