Innovative Concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy (IC-IFE) Workshop
From May 20 to 22, 2026, an international workshop “2026 Innovative Concepts for Inertial Fusion Energy (IC-IFE) Workshop” was held at the University of California Livermore Collaboration Center in Livermore, California, USA.
This workshop focuses on innovative concepts towards the realization of fusion energy. It was held for the first time this year, and was co-hosted with the University of California San Diego’s Center for Energy Research and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, with support from Japan-US Collaboration Program in Fusion Physics. More than 80 participants attended the workshop, and lively scientific exchanges and discussions on the relevant physics took place.
A total of 55 presentations were delivered across nine sessions covering topics such as laser-driven implosions, fast plasma heating, ignition and burn, and transport physics. Each session included a 30-minute discussion at the end. Participants engaged in intensive discussions on the research challenges and international collaboration needed to advance fusion energy, while keeping multiple designs and concepts open. The workshop was highly productive and is expected to lead to substantive international collaborative research.
（Photo: Blaise Douros/LLNL）
