The US has announced a scientific breakthrough that has eluded researchers worldwide for decades – one that could, decades from now, turn nuclear fusion into a practical source of clean, inexpensive energy that does not create long-lived radioactive waste or worsen global warming.
The US Department of Energy said on Tuesday (13 December) that researchers have made a breakthrough in the quest to unlock a near-limitless source of energy by getting more energy out of a nuclear fusion reaction than they put in.
The findings, announced by US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, show researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have managed to release 2.5 megajoules (MJ) of energy after using just 2.1 MJ to heat the fuel with lasers.
The US Department of Energy said on Tuesday (13 December) that researchers have made a breakthrough in the quest to unlock a near-limitless source of energy by getting more energy out of a nuclear fusion reaction than they put in.
The findings, announced by US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, show researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have managed to release 2.5 megajoules (MJ) of energy after using just 2.1 MJ to heat the fuel with lasers.
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