The Vulcan program: experimental foundations for a Fusion Pilot Plant (FPP)

Achieving inertial fusion energy (IFE) requires more than ignition—it demands repeatable, reliable, and scalable performance. Xcimer’s Vulcan will be a 4 MJ-class KrF laser facility with two-sided illumination, full zooming capability, and a chamber designed to support yields up to 400 MJ. As both a science campaign and a physical platform, Vulcan is designed to demonstrate key milestones such as wall-plug breakeven while directly setting fusion pilot plant (FPP) design requirements. Its flexible architecture will enable experimental access to critical physics including laser plasma interactions, symmetry control, and implosion compression. This talk will present the structure of the Vulcan campaign, the risks we’ve prioritized, and the modeling and experimental strategies we are using to retire them. We’ll also highlight collaboration opportunities and Vulcan’s role in shaping the next generation of IFE scientists and engineers.