With 200 lasers and a peppercorn-sized fuel capsule, scientists inch closer to mastering fusion energy | CNN
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Scientists in California make a significant step in what could one day be an important solution to the global climate crisis, driven primarily by burning fossil fuels.

Scientists in California shooting nearly 200 lasers at a cylinder holding a fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn have taken another step in the quest for fusion energy, which, if mastered, could provide the world with a near-limitless source of clean power.

Last year on a December morning, scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California (LLNL) managed, in a world first, to produce a nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy than it used, in a process called “ignition.”

Now they say they have successfully replicated ignition at least three times this year, according to a December report from the LLNL. This marks another significant step in what could one day be an important solution to the global climate crisis, driven primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.

  • @[email protected]
    15•7 months ago

    The energy produced in December 2022 was small — it took around 2 megajoules to power the reaction, which released a total of 3.15 megajoules, enough to boil around 10 kettles of water. But it was sufficient to make it a successful ignition and to prove that laser fusion could create energy.

    Since then, the scientists have done it several more times. On July 30, the NIF laser delivered a little over 2 megajoules to the target, which resulted in 3.88 megajoules of energy — their highest yield achieved to date, according to the report. Two subsequent experiments in October also delivered net gains.

    Promising results, hopefully it can be made practical at a large scale.

    • @[email protected]
      2•7 months ago

      That’s the next step hopefully! Building such facilities will probably be a big hurdle as well.

    • @[email protected]
      0•7 months ago

      The reporting here is misleading - the energy in/out number is only for the fusion product and the actual energy output by the lasers. It does not take into account the 400MJ capacitor banks that are used to actually power the lasers.

      • @[email protected]English
        2•7 months ago

        Why would you count that as part of breakeven? If it’s producing more than it’s consuming, once ignition is achieved it can power itself. How costly it is to start the process only affects how long a theoretical reactor would need to run to cover its ignition cost.

        • @[email protected]
          0•7 months ago

          Ah, I think you are confusing ICF vs MCF systems. ICF devices do not (and probably can not) sustain fusion; that 400MJ is what the lasers consume every time the system is fired. Hence why I called it misleading - it must consume 400MJ to produce any output. Hence why ICF devices are used to simulate nuclear weapons while MCF are not. Essentially the NIF device is a reusable and reconfigurable implosion bomb.