A laboratory experiment conducted last week in California is poised to change the world forever.
In fact, it “could lead to a new source of boundless clean energy for the world,” according to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility. It could also make nuclear weapons safer.
Researchers made the major scientific breakthrough last Monday at the National Ignition Facility. What they were able to achieve is called fusion ignition, or production of more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it.
Fusion happens when two light nuclei come together to form a heavier nucleus, and in the process release a large amount of energy. Back in the 1960s, scientists hypothesized that lasers could be used to induce fusion in a laboratory setting.
“The pursuit of fusion ignition in the laboratory is one of the most significant scientific challenges ever tackled by humanity, and achieving it is a triumph of science, engineering, and most of all, people,” LLNL Director Dr. Kim Budil said. “Crossing this threshold is the vision that has driven 60 years of dedicated pursuit – a continual process of learning, building, expanding knowledge and capability, and then finding ways to overcome the new challenges that emerged. These are the problems that the U.S. national laboratories were created to solve.”
At the LLNL, scientists built a series of increasingly powerful laser systems and created the NIF – the world’s largest and most energetic laser system that is as big as a sports stadium – to pursue fusion ignition. NIF can create temperatures and pressures like those in the cores of stars and giant planets and nuclear weapons.
To finally surpass the fusion threshold, researchers delivered 2.05 megajoules of energy to the target. This resulted in 3.15 megajoules of fusion energy output, “demonstrating for the first time a most fundamental science basis for inertial fusion energy.”
Although “many advanced science and technology developments are still needed to achieve simple, affordable IFE to power homes and businesses,” the U.S. Department of Energy – which announced the achievement Tuesday – is starting up a new program focused on this energy.
“Combined with private-sector investment, there is a lot of momentum to drive rapid progress toward fusion commercialization,” said the DOE.
According to the department, fusion ignition has also set the stage for national security improvements. These include the “unprecedented capability” to support a Stockpile Stewardship Program aimed at keeping the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile safe and reliable.
“This breakthrough will ensure the safety and reliability of our nuclear stockpile, open new frontiers in science, and enable progress toward new ways to power our homes and offices in future decades,” said U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
Fusion ignition is expected to “be a game-changer” for net zero efforts announced by President Joe Biden and his administration last month, according to the Department of Energy. Net zero refers to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible in an effort to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, per the United Nations.
“This astonishing scientific advance puts us on the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) also said that the advancement “could help fuel a brighter clean energy future for the United States and humanity,” and U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) called for the government to fund even more fusion research provisions to build on the achievement.
“This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.
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