US has made a great discovery in field of thermonuclear research
2022.12.13 11:05
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US has made a great discovery in field of thermonuclear research
Budrigannews.com – On Tuesday, scientists from the United States presented a new scientific discovery regarding fusion energy. This discovery has the potential to contribute to the fight against climate change if it is successful in making the transition from research labs to commercial electricity generation in the upcoming decades.
According to the U.S. Energy Department, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved a brief net energy gain for the first time on December 5 in a laser-based fusion experiment. To transform two light atoms into a denser one and release energy, the researchers focused a laser on fuel.
The White House Office of Sciences and Technology Policy director, Arati Prabhakar, described the experiment as a “tremendous example of what perseverance can achieve.”
The sun is powered by fusion, and scientists have been working for decades to create fusion on Earth.
Outside of the laboratory, nuclear scientists said that while the achievement will be a significant milestone, there is still a lot of research to be done before fusion can be used for profit.
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Expert in nuclear energy at the University of Cambridge Tony Roulstone estimated that the experiment’s energy output was only 0.5% of the energy required to fire the lasers.
Roulstone stated, “Therefore, we can say that this result… is a success of the science; however, it is still a long way from providing useful, abundant, and clean energy.”
The electricity industry cautiously welcomed the move, but it emphasized that in order to complete the energy transition, efforts to develop other alternatives like solar and wind power, battery storage, and nuclear fission should not be slowed down by fusion.
“The initial step says ‘OK, this isn’t simply dream, this should be possible, in principle,'” said Andrew Sowder, a senior innovation chief at EPRI, a philanthropic energy innovative work bunch.
