Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California
Scientists Achieve Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough With Blast of 192 Lasers
After decades of research, scientists have reached an important milestone in the future of energy.
Scientists studying fusion energy at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced yesterday that they had crossed a long-awaited milestone in reproducing the power of the sun in a laboratory. It is the first fusion reaction in a laboratory setting that produced more energy than it took to start the reaction.
Scientists have for decades talked about how fusion, the nuclear reaction that makes stars shine, could provide a future source of bountiful energy. If fusion can be deployed on a large scale, it would offer an energy source without pollution or dangerous long-lived radioactive waste.
Within the sun and stars, fusion continually combines hydrogen atoms into helium, producing sunlight and warmth that bathe the planets. In experimental reactors and laser labs on Earth, fusion lives up to its reputation as a very clean energy source.
Experiment:
In earlier efforts by scientists to control the unruly power of fusion, their experiments consumed more energy than the fusion reactions generated. That all changed in a Dec. 5 experiment as 192 giant lasers blasted a small cylinder about the size of a pencil eraser that contained a frozen nubbin of hydrogen encased in diamond.
Time scale:
It may take decades before fusion becomes available on a widespread, practical scale, if ever. Most climate scientists and policymakers say that to achieve that goal of limiting warming to two degrees Celsius, or 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit, the world must reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Here’s what the advance does and doesn’t mean for the climate crisis.
(source: nytimes.com)
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