California Team , Achieves Ignition , in Nuclear Fusion.
'Newsweek' reports that scientists achieved
a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion with the
first recorded case of ignition on August 8, 2021.
The results of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) have now been published in three peer-reviewed papers.
The results of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) have now been published in three peer-reviewed papers.
The results of researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) have now been published in three peer-reviewed papers.
Nuclear fusion powers our Sun and other stars. .
In the process, hydrogen atoms smash into
each other and fuse to form a helium atom,
which releases huge amounts of energy.
According to 'Newsweek,' successful ignition means
that the reaction produced enough energy to become
self-sustaining, a critical step for generating electricity.
If successfully harnessed, nuclear fusion
could be one of the most efficient and
least polluting sources of energy possible. .
The process requires no fossil fuels
as the only fuel comes from hydrogen.
The breakthrough at LLNL saw
researchers record an energy yield of over
1.3 megajoules (MJ) in a matter of nanoseconds.
The record shot was a major scientific
advance in fusion research, which
establishes that fusion ignition
in the lab is possible at NIF, Omar Hurricane, Chief scientist for LLNL's inertial
confinement fusion program, via 'Newsweek'.
Achieving the conditions needed for ignition
has been a long-standing goal for all inertial
confinement fusion research and opens
access to a new experimental regime where
alpha-particle self-heating outstrips all
the cooling mechanisms in the fusion plasma, Omar Hurricane, Chief scientist for LLNL's inertial
confinement fusion program, via 'Newsweek'