The Department of Energy announced Tuesday that U.S. scientists have made a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion: the reaction that powers the sun and that could one day provide a near limitless and zero-carbon source of energy here on Earth. In an experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, researchers used nearly 200 lasers to heat a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma to more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit. The hydrogen atoms then fused and released vast amounts of energy — more energy, crucially, than it took to start the reaction.
- This achievement “will go down in the history books,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.
- The fusion reaction lasted for only 100 trillionths of a second; scientists caution it will take decades to turn what is currently an experimental technology into a large-scale power plant.
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https://www.ft.com/content/4b6f0fab-66ef-4e33-adec-cfc345589dc7The federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which uses a process called inertial confinement fusion that involves bombarding a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the world’s biggest laser, had achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment in the past two weeks, the people said. Although many scientists believe fusion power stations are still decades away, the technology’s potential is hard to ignore. Fusion reactions emit no carbon, produce no long-lived radioactive waste and a small cup of the hydrogen fuel could theoretically power a house for hundreds of years.
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