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American scientists have set a milestone: by firing nearly two hundred laser beams at a hydrogen fuel capsule, they have generated 1,350 kilojoules (1.35 megajoules) of energy. That’s five times as much energy as the laser beams they used to power the process.
–Why is this important?
Nuclear fusion is a golden ticket to a sustainable energy future. But this process is not exactly easy to induce. Nuclear fusion comes down to the fusion of light atoms (hydrogen nuclei), releasing energy. For example, the process takes place in the sun. In most cases, the work of nuclear fusion is done by plasmas that are controlled by magnetic fields. This is the case, for example, with the Iter fusion reactor, which is currently doing well in the south of France. But apparently there is an alternative path: you can also target a fusion fuel capsule from all sides with lasers.From National Ignition Facility uses a powerful laser to heat and compress hydrogen fuel, initiating fusion.
- A recent experiment by NIF suggests that an important goal is within reach: that the energy released by fusion is greater than that delivered by the laser. That message the BBC.
- In a process that inertial confinement is called, 192 beams from the laser of NIF – the highest energy laser in the world – aimed at a peppercorn-sized capsule containing deuterium and tritium; different forms of the element hydrogen.
- This causes a rocket-like implosion that compresses the fuel to extreme densities and heats it to hundreds of millions of degrees Celsius. As a result, the hydrogen atoms melt into helium nuclei (alpha particles) and high-energy neutrons and other forms of energy are released.
- The idea is that those alpha particles then heat more fusion fuel, so that there is a self-sustaining fusion reaction is initiated.
- It should then generate more energy than was put into it.
- They succeeded in 2014 when the scientists achieved a ‘net profit’ of 100 kilojoules.
- The most recent experiments yielded no less than 1.35 megajoules; eight times more than a similar test in the spring of 2021, and five times more than went into the capsule.
“Huge progress”
“This is a huge step forward for fusion and for anyone working on fusion,” said Debbie Callahan, a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, true NIF is housed, on BBC News.
The results have yet to be confirmed with new tests. Even if it turns out that this record will really change things, a lot still needs to happen before nuclear fusion becomes established. But: this development gives rise to positivity.
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