Significant progress has been made on addressing critical issues for inertial fusion energy (IFE) chambers for heavy-ion, laser and Z-pinch drivers. A variety of chamber concepts are being investigated including drywall (currently favored for laser IFE), wetted-wall (applicable to both laser and ion drivers), and thickliquid-wall (favored by heavy ion and z-pinch drivers). Recent progress and r...

Intense heavy-ion beams have long been considered a promising driver option for inertial-fusion energy production. This paper briefly compares inertial confinement fusion (ICF) to the more-familiar magneticconfinement approach and presents some advantages of using beams of heavy ions to drive ICF instead of lasers. Key design choices in heavy-ion fusion (HIF) facilities are discussed, particula...

Studies using the alphavirus Semliki Forest virus have indicated that the viral E1 fusion protein forms two types of pore: fusion pores and ion-permeable pores. The formation of ion-permeable pores has not been generally accepted, partly because it was not evident how the protein might form these different pores. Here it is proposed that the choice of the target membrane determines whether a fu...