US scientists have achieved a historic success in fusion energy. It was announced that for the first time, net energy gain was achieved by producing more energy than the energy used to start the fusion reaction in the experiment conducted on December 5 at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, USA.
A FIRST SUCCESSFUL
It was stated that an energy output of 3.15 megajoules was provided from 2.05 megajoules of energy given by lasers to initiate the fusion reaction, which occurs when two or more atoms fuse together and form a heavier atom. Drawing attention to the fact that more than 50 percent of energy was produced with the said experiment, it was stated that an experiment resulted in a meaningful energy gain for the first time. The National Ignition Facility, which is the size of a stadium, has 192 lasers.
“TURNING POINT”
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm described the fusion experiment in question as “a landmark achievement”. Granholm stated that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other national laboratories are working to help the United States solve humanity’s most complex and urgent problems, such as providing clean energy to combat climate change, maintaining nuclear deterrence without nuclear testing.
“Ignition allows us, for the first time, to replicate certain conditions found only in stars and the sun. This milestone brings us one step closer to the possibility of zero-carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society. “If we can advance fusion energy, we can use it to generate clean electricity, transportation fuels, power, heavy industry and much more.”
“ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHALLENGES”
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Director, Dr. Kim Budil, on the other hand, congratulated his colleagues, describing the scientists’ realization of fusion firing in the laboratory as “one of the most important scientific challenges humanity has ever overcome”. Budil said, “To achieve this is the victory of science, engineering, and most importantly of all, humanity,” emphasizing that the scientific threshold in question has been passed in 60 years. Budil also announced that US national laboratories have been established to overcome such problems.
Fusion, known as the power generation method of the sun and stars, is in the clean energy category because it does not produce carbon dioxide emissions and does not produce nuclear waste. (UAV)