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United States (US) scientists claim to be one step closer to mastering cleaner nuclear fusion technology without limits. Photo/Daily Mail
WASHINGTON – United States (US) scientists claim to be one step closer to mastering cleaner nuclear fusion technology without limits. In their latest experiment they produced a nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy equivalent to 4 times the power of the sun.
Researchers at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) have fired nearly 200 lasers at a pepper-sized hydrogen capsule, heating it to more than 180 million degrees Fahrenheit. The team produced a nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy than was used in a process called ‘ignition’.
The team announced that they had replicated the results three more times in the past year, bringing the world one step closer to a solution to the climate crisis. Scientists have been trying to harness fusion energy for decades, which is the same core process that powers the sun.
One of the efforts carried out by the team in California resulted in a record energy increase of 89% or an increase of 35% compared to the first ignition one year ago. Its main purpose is to generate power just as the sun creates heat by pushing hydrogen atoms against each other so that they combine to form helium, which releases a stream of energy.
With no carbon emissions, one cup of the substance could power an average-sized house for hundreds of years. Nuclear fission occurs when a neutron hits a larger atom, forcing it to become excited and split into two smaller atoms.
The laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) features 192 lasers that fire beams at frozen isotope pellets stored in diamond capsules suspended in gold cylinders called hohlraums. The capsule is heated to around 100 million degrees to create pressure greater inside than inside the sun’s core.
“The explosion caused the isotopes to fuse, creating helium and a large amount of energy,” scientists told Nature, quoted by SINDOnews from the Daily Mail page, Friday (22/12/2023). The fusion reaction produces about 2.5 megajoules of energy, nearly 120% of the 2.1 megajoules of energy produced by the laser.
The first successful attempt was made on December 5, 2022, producing approximately 54% more energy than was put in. The team set a record on July 30 with an 85% increase, and two more attempts were made in October.
The fusion reaction produced around 3.88 megajoules of fusion energy or 89% more than the first achievement in December. Two other tests were carried out in June and September, but researchers said the energy produced was not ‘sufficient to confirm ignition.’
“I feel pretty good. I think we should all be proud of this achievement,” said Richard Town, a physicist who heads LLNL’s inertial confinement fusion science program. The $3.5 billion National Ignition Facility was originally built to test nuclear weapons by simulating explosions, but its focus has now shifted to advancing fusion energy research.
(wib)