Riccardo Betti Advises Congress about the Future of Fusion
February 23, 2010
Riccardo Betti, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Physics at the University of Rochester, recently testified before Congress about the importance of the government's continued support of fusion research. Betti was one of five experts invited to speak to the House Committee on Science and Technology's Subcommittee on Energy and Environment at a hearing called "The Next Generation of Fusion Energy Research."
In the near future, explained Professor Betti, scientists hope to achieve thermonuclear ignition using the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. With the NIF laser, which is now the most powerful in the world, scientists will build on work that has been done at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) for decades. In Rochester, LLE's OMEGA and OMEGA EP lasers will continue to support this mission.