According to the Financial Times, the fusion reaction in California has produced more energy than it took to start and maintain it.
In the United States, the Ministry of Energy has said that this week it will announce the news of a significant scientific breakthrough. The Financial Times newspaper has reported (you will switch to another service)that a breakthrough has been made in the production of fusion energy.
According to the magazine, researchers at the Californian laboratory have for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than what was spent to start and maintain the reaction.
This milestone of net positive production has been pursued in the industry for decades. In operation, fusion energy would be a completely emission-free form of energy production.
Fusion reactions are nuclear reactions in which the nuclei of atoms combine to form heavier elements. They differ from the fission reactions seen in a traditional nuclear power plant, where the nuclei of atoms split. A fusion power plant would not produce long-lived, high-level nuclear waste either.
Produced about a fifth more than it consumed
According to the magazine, about 2.5 megajoules of energy were produced in a successful reaction, while 2.1 were consumed to start the reaction. Therefore, about a fifth more energy would have been produced than was consumed.
The Ministry of Energy has not confirmed FT’s information. Washington Post sources have confirmed the reaction.
The California laboratory uses huge lasers whose beams are focused on a single point where the fuel is located.
There is still a long way to go from a successful trial operation to the point where fusion power plants could be connected to the electricity grid. According to many researchers, this goal is still decades away, but the California lab’s experiment may be the biggest single step toward it in recent history.
More on the topic:
A step forward in the development of fusion power: the research team managed to produce more fusion energy than ever before
The last stage in the construction of the fusion power plant ITER begins – Is the Grail of energy production finally starting to shine?
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