Nuclear fusion: Has there been a breakthrough and what will it mean?
A nuclear fusion reactor has reportedly created more energy than was put into it, for the first time ever. If the experimental results are confirmed, it will prove that fusion is a viable way to meet the planet’s growing energy demands by replicating the reaction that has been occurring at the heart of our sun for billions of years – with some caveats.
What has happened?
Fusion has long promised abundant, clean energy, but until recently has been a far-off dream. In the past few years, experiments around the world have been increasingly promising, but crucially have all also required more energy input than they have generated.
Now, a report in the Financial Times suggests that researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have overcome this major hurdle. The lab’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) fusion reactor uses lasers to create heat and pressure that turns deuterium and tritium into a plasma in which fusion can occur, and the FT reports that an experiment in which the lasers output 2.1 megajoules of energy resulted in the production of about 2.5 megajoules, roughly a 20 per cent increase.
Sources at the lab told the FT that data is still being processed, but that the energy output from the fusion reaction was greater than expected and had damaged some diagnostic equipment.
“Our analysis is still ongoing, so we’re unable to provide details or confirmation at this time. We look forward to sharing more on Tuesday when that process is complete,” an LLNL spokesperson told New Scientist, referring to an announcement by the US Department of Energy expected to take place on 13 December, according to the FT and sources who spoke to New Scientist.
Gianluca Sarri at Queen’s University Belfast says that caution is required until the reports are verified, but that if true it is a huge milestone. “This was not a given, it was not obvious that this could be done,” he says. “We know that now we can get fusion on Earth.”
