Laser-Driven Fusion Experiment Achieves Over Twice the Energy Output

The world’s only fusion experiment to achieve net energy gain has been steadily increasing its energy output, according to information obtained by TechCrunch.

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) recently boosted the experiment’s yield, first reaching 5.2 megajoules and then 8.6 megajoules, as reported by a source familiar with the project.

NIF Surpasses 2022 Fusion Milestone with Major Boost in Energy Output

These figures mark a major advance over the landmark 2022 breakthrough, when NIF became the first to demonstrate a controlled fusion reaction that produced more energy than was absorbed by the fuel. That historic shot generated 3.15 megajoules from 2.05 megajoules of laser input directed at a BB-sized fuel pellet.

While none of the fusion events to date have produced enough energy to feed electricity back into the grid—let alone offset the 300 megajoules needed to run the laser system—they offer continued evidence that nuclear fusion is no longer just theoretical.

How NIF Uses Lasers and Precision Engineering to Trigger Fusion

NIF achieves fusion using a technique known as inertial confinement. The process begins with a fusion fuel pellet coated in diamond and placed inside a gold cylinder known as a hohlraum. This assembly is inserted into a 10-meter-wide vacuum chamber, where 192 high-powered lasers fire at the target.

The lasers vaporize the gold cylinder, releasing X-rays that compress the pellet inside. The intense energy causes the diamond shell to explode outward, creating plasma that in turn compresses the deuterium-tritium core, forcing the atomic nuclei to fuse and release energy.

The alternative major method for achieving fusion, known as magnetic confinement, relies on strong superconducting magnets to compress and hold plasma in a confined space where fusion conditions can occur. Although this technique has yet to produce a net energy gain, multiple experiments are currently being built or planned with the goal of eventually reaching that breakthrough.

Read the original article on: TechCrunch

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