Scientists have used the Z machine in the hopes of achieving extreme temperatures and pressures to generate nuclear fusion.  After adding a secondary magnetic field physicists think they are on the right path.  As reported by Nature, the International weekly journal of science in the article “Triple-threat method sparks hope for fusion:”

But after tacking on two more components, physicists think they are at last on the right path. Researchers working on Sandia’s Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experiment added a secondary magnetic field to thermally insulate the hydrogen fuel, and a laser to preheat it (see ‘Feeling the pinch’). In late November, they tested the system for the first time, using 16 million amperes of current, a 10-tesla magnetic field and 2 kilojoules of energy from a green laser.

This progress could be crucial to the upcoming assessment to Congress in 2015.

If MagLIF hits its 100-kilo­joule goal, it could bolster an argument for upgrading the Z machine to 60 million amperes or more, which simulations suggest would be sufficient to reach ignition.

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