US scientists achievement in fusion energy raises expectations for clean energy. Please use the sharing options available through the share button at the top or side of the articles. Copying articles to distribute to others is against FT.com’s terms of service and copyright policy. To purchase more rights, send an email to [email protected]. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles monthly using the gift article service.
According to three sources with knowledge of early findings from a recent experiment, US government scientists have made progress in their quest for limitless, carbon-free energy by successfully obtaining a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time.
Since the 1950s, physicists have tried to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun, but no one has yet succeeded in producing more energy from the reaction than it consumes. This achievement is known as net energy gain or target gain, and it would demonstrate that the process can offer a dependable, abundant alternative to fossil fuels and conventional nuclear energy.
According to the sources, the government Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California had just accomplished net energy gain in a fusion experiment using the inertial confinement fusion technique that entails hitting a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the giant laser in the world.
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According to many scientists, fusion power plants may still be decades away, but the technology’s potential is undeniable. A modest cup of hydrogen fuel could hypothetically power a house for hundreds of years while producing no carbon emissions or persistent radioactive waste from fusion reactions.
The US discovery comes as the world struggles with high energy costs and the urgency of switching quickly from fossil fuel use to prevent dangerously high average global temperatures. The Biden administration is investing approximately $370 billion in new low-carbon energy subsidies through the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce emissions and triumph in the race for next-generation clean technology.
The sources with knowledge of the results claimed that the fusion reaction at the US government facility produced about 2.5 megajoules of energy, roughly 120% of the 2.1 megajoules of power in the lasers. They added that the data was still being analyzed.
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The US Department of Energy has stated that on Tuesday at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Under-Secretary for Nuclear Security Jill Hruby will reveal “a substantial scientific accomplishment.” The division declined to make any additional comments. The lab acknowledged that an experiment had recently been successful at its National Ignition Facility but added that more findings were being studied.
The actual yield is still being calculated, so we cannot confirm that it is above the threshold now,” it added. Publishing the material before that analysis is finished would be inaccurate because it is still in progress. Two people aware of the findings claimed that the energy output was higher than anticipated, which complicated the investigation by damaging several diagnostic tools.
The scientists were already debating the discovery extensively, the sources continued. According to Dr. Arthur Turrell, a plasma physicist whose book The Star Builders details the pursuit of fusion power, “If this is proven, we are witnessing a moment of history.”
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Large government-supported laboratories like the Joint European Torus in Oxford have historically conducted this research. Still, in recent years, money has also poured into private enterprises that promise to provide fusion power by the 2030s. According to the Fusion Industry Association, fusion companies raised $2.83 billion in investment in the 12 months leading up to the end of June, increasing the total private sector investment to date to approximately $4.9 billion.
A similar strategy to that utilized at NIF is being developed by Oxford-based start-up First Light Fusion, whose CEO, Nicholas Hawker, called the possible discovery “game-changing.” It is profound for fusion power, he declared.