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Energy

US Department of Energy reports first-ever achievement of fusion ignition

By Ben Coxworth
December 13, 2022
US Department of Energy reports first-ever achievement of fusion ignition
To create fusion ignition, the National Ignition Facility’s laser energy is converted into X-rays inside a capsule called a hohlraum, which then compress a fuel capsule until it implodes, creating a high-temperature, high-pressure plasma
To create fusion ignition, the National Ignition Facility’s laser energy is converted into X-rays inside a capsule called a hohlraum, which then compress a fuel capsule until it implodes, creating a high-temperature, high-pressure plasma
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The target chamber of LLNL’s National Ignition Facility
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The target chamber of LLNL’s National Ignition Facility
To create fusion ignition, the National Ignition Facility’s laser energy is converted into X-rays inside a capsule called a hohlraum, which then compress a fuel capsule until it implodes, creating a high-temperature, high-pressure plasma
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To create fusion ignition, the National Ignition Facility’s laser energy is converted into X-rays inside a capsule called a hohlraum, which then compress a fuel capsule until it implodes, creating a high-temperature, high-pressure plasma

This Tuesday (Dec. 13th), the US Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration announced the first-ever achievement of fusion ignition. The breakthrough should reportedly "pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power."

In the fusion process, two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy. This is what was achieved – for the first time in a laboratory setting – on Dec. 5th at the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).

On that day, scientists used 192 laser beams to deliver a total of 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of ultraviolet energy to a tiny cryogenic fuel pellet, which in turn produced 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output. In other words, the fusion reaction produced more energy than the amount of laser energy that was used to trigger it.

As far back as the 1960s, LLNL scientists hypothesized that lasers could be used to induce fusion in a laboratory setting. They proceeded to build a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, culminating in what is known as the National Ignition Facility (NIF), which was used for this month's fusion experiment.

Located in Livermore, California, the stadium-sized NIF is the world’s largest and most energetic laser system. It utilizes powerful laser beams to create temperatures and pressures replicating those in the cores of stars and giant planets, and inside exploding nuclear weapons.

The target chamber of LLNL’s National Ignition Facility
The target chamber of LLNL’s National Ignition Facility

"This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery," said US Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting our world-class scientists – like the team at NIF – whose work will help us solve humanity’s most complex and pressing problems, like providing clean power to combat climate change and maintaining a nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing."

Source: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

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EnergyNuclear FusionUS Department of Energy
15 comments
Ben Coxworth
Ben Coxworth
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, Ben Coxworth has been writing for New Atlas since 2009 and is presently Managing Editor for North America. An experienced freelance writer, he previously obtained an English BA from the University of Saskatchewan, then spent over 20 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Ben is particularly interested in scientific innovation, human-powered transportation, and the marine environment.

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15 comments
Malcolm Jacks
I just hope this fusion comes in time.
Bob Flint
For how long?
aksdad
Scientifically, this is a significant achievement. But keep in mind that it's a colossal $3.5 billion experiment designed to explore if laser confinement fusion is possible. Now we know it is, at least for a billionth of a second. The lasers used 400 megajoules of electricity to generate the 2.15 MJ pulse that produced 3.05 MJ of energy from the tiny fuel pellet; enough to power a 1,000 watt microwave oven for an hour. Containing and sustaining the reaction are huge engineering challenges that may take decades to solve, if ever. Turns out that massive gravity like the Sun's is an ideal method to sustain and contain fusion but it's not easy to replicate.
TechGazer
Good that they didn't claim it as producing more power than was put in, since that would be false. I wonder whether any of these fusion projects would win an award as "The biggest power sink". The data may be useful for future projects.
HoppyHopkins
This is possibly the third or fourth "fusion Break-even" success that I have heard about this year. If even one of them actually is a success, we shall have a very bright future...if we don't kill ourselves off in a full blown nuclear WWIII. If we avoid that, Elon Musk's dream of the expansion of the Human race out into the rest of the galaxy
martinwinlow
Great. So now we can look forward to another 50 years of tinkering which will cost another few tens of billions which we could just spend the money on *off the shelf technology* instead and have a global network of renewably generated power and storage systems that would serve the entire planet.
annevance
I read in another article that the temperature reached was 150 million degrees Celsius for a very short time.
But I always wondered how do they measure such high temperatures which was 10 times the temp. of the core of the sun !
Sergius
Certain scientific research costs enormous sums of money, and is nothing more than a simple attempt at answering questions...
It turns out that scientific study is exactly that: attempts to get answers to doubts created by brilliant minds.
Descartes already said that the only certainty possible to man is his own doubts.
No researcher is concerned with economic or financial viability. They are concerned with answering their questions.
The New Atlas only presents these advances, apparently disconnected or meaningless, but which, in general terms, mean the evolution of science and all its unpredictable effects.
Therefore, it is not the amount of energy expended for the experiment that matters in this or any other research, but the scientific knowledge that is acquired and that later can be applied in a viable and sustainable way.
NMBill
Less than meets the eye. This approach has been well nderstood for decades. The engineering required to make this a viable base load energy source is another matter. As a practical solution to the fusion energy challenge this is probably a dead end. The announcement itself is probably politically motivated.
michael_dowling
𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐦 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬: Well,that is the problem. Producing an economical fusion power generator is still decades away,and climate change can not be put on "pause". By the time they get it working,it will be too late to do anything about climate change.
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