The U.S. Department of Energy is expected to announce scientists hit a key milestone in the quest to create abundant zero-carbon power through nuclear fusion.
The Financial Times reported Sunday that scientists at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California had achieved a “net energy gain” from an experimental fusion reactor.
It was confirmed by two people familiar with the research, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid getting ahead of the official announcement, reports the Washington Post.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is slated to announce on Tuesday that “a major scientific breakthrough” has been reached creating a “net energy gain” from an experimental fusion reactor.
Nuclear fusion: the holy grail
The aim of fusion research is to replicate the nuclear reaction through which energy is created on the sun. It is a “holy grail” of carbon-free power that scientists have been chasing since the 1950s.
Fusion differs from fission, the technique currently used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one. The heat sustained by fusing two atoms together creates a massive amount of energy.
In this case, the fusion reactor in California, which is the size of three football fields and consists of almost 200 lasers, bombarded a tiny spot with high levels of energy to initiate a fusion reaction, producing a net energy gain of 120 percent.
While the achievement is significant, there are still monumental engineering and scientific challenges ahead.
Building devices that are large enough to create fusion power at scale, scientists say, would require materials that are extraordinarily difficult to produce.
At the same time, the reaction creates neutrons that put a tremendous amount of stress on the equipment creating it, such that it can get destroyed in the process, the Washington Post points out.
