Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced on Tuesday that it marks a “major scientific breakthrough” in the decades-long quest to harness fusion, the energy that powers the sun and stars. For the first time, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it, the so-called net energy gain, the Department of Energy reported.
According to Granholm and other officials, success will pave the way for progress in national defense and a clean electricity future.
“This is a remarkable achievement for researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility, who have dedicated their careers to making fusion ignition a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly ignite further discoveries,” Granholm said at a press conference in Washington. said. According to him, the invention in thermonuclear fusion “will go into the history books.”
Speaking with Granholm, White House science adviser Arathi Prabhakar described the ignition of fusion as “a great example of what continuity can truly achieve” and “an engineering marvel beyond belief”.
Fusion proponents hope that one day it can produce virtually unlimited carbon-free energy, replacing fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources. There are still decades of energy generation that powers homes and businesses through fusion. But the researchers said it’s still an important step forward.
“It’s almost like a starting ball,” said Professor Dennis White, director of MIT’s Center for Plasma Science and Fusion and a leader in fusion research. “We must strive to make fusion energy systems affordable to combat climate change and energy security.”
A net increase in energy has been an unattainable goal because fusion takes place at high temperatures and pressures that are incredibly difficult to control. Fusion works by compressing hydrogen atoms with such force that they transform into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy and heat. Unlike other nuclear reactions, it does not produce radioactive waste.
Billions of dollars and decades of work have been spent on fusion research, which produces exciting results in less than a second. Previously, researchers at the National Ignition Facility, part of Lawrence Livermore, where the breakthrough occurred, used 192 lasers and temperatures several times higher than the center of the Sun to create an extremely short fusion reaction. Source
Source: Port Altele
