US lab’s breakthrough in potential fusion energy
It seems that they may have indeed reached a critical discovery when it comes to generating nuclear power. The scientists who work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have reached a breakthrough point in fusion reactions in pursuit of limitless zero carbon power.
They were able to generate more energy than they actually pumped in during one of their recent tests with the process of inertial confinement fusion. A recent publication which ran in the Financial Times details that scientists have discussed the results of their findings is ongoing.
They will be making their special announcement at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California on 13th December 2022, as part of a special live streaming broadcast accessible via the internet.
The detail of the experiment are that almost 200 lasers are fired at a tiny capsule of hydrogen, and as a result the lasers create a plasma surrounding the capsule which causes an implosion, and under these conditions has fusion reaction is achieved.
The sun itself as a huge fusion power station
The lab uses a process called inertial confinement fusion that involves bombarding a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma withe the world’s biggest laser, had achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment in the past two weeks.
Fusion power is an integral part of our solar system, and is present in the Sun itself, as heavy atoms collide together under extreme pressure and heat, and these conditions are not easy to replicate within a laboratory environment.
The fusing of the atoms releases a huge amount of energy, but actually has no carbon footprint to speak of. In comparison to fission, which creates a nuclear waste problem, fusion does not.
Most fusion research is focusing on a different approach known as magnetic confinement fusion, in which the hydrogen fuel is held in place by powerful magnets and heated to extreme temperature so the atomic nuclei fuse.
The secret to revolutionising energy is to harness the very power of fusion itself, we could lower greenhouse gas emissions substantially, and create a cleaner greener energy source.
US government’s support fusion energy
When US White House fusion power strategy was launched in 2022, congressman Don Beyer, chair of the bipartisan fusion energy caucus described the technology as the holy grail of clean energy.
He added fusion energy has the potential to lift more citizens of the world out of poverty than anything since the invention of fire.
According to the Fusion Industry Association, fusion companies raised money in investment. Historically that science has been done by large publicly funded labs, such as the Joint European Torus in Oxford.
But in recent years investments has also flooded into startups promising to deliver fusion power in the 2030s.
Since the 1950s Physicists have sought to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun for limitless carbon free energy sauce, but no group had been able to generate more energy from the reaction than it consumes.
If media reports are to be believed, sources suggest that the scientists involved in the tests could have achieved “fusion energy gain”. A major breakthrough has been achieved, and is a pretty big deal in clean energy research. Caution is advised not to jump the gun however.
We have been at this juncture before back in 2013 when the National Ignition Facility reported they had achieved the same outcome, but after more tests and investigation it appeared all wasn’t as it seemed, and the report was hilarious false.
In more recent tests the NIF have been making leaps and bounds towards the major breakthrough that they search for. In 2021, they had recreated the power of the sun in a self sustained reaction, though only for a brief moment.
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory issued a statement: “Our analysis is still ongoing, so we’re unable to provide details or confirmation at this time.” and provided a link suggests a “Major Scientific Breakthrough.”
We are not quite yet there though, as this test result doesn’t actually mean that we will all of a sudden have access to a limitless power supply, it’s a good indication however that fusion energy can definitely prove itself to be viable, and provide a cleaner, greener solution to the climate change crisis.
Although many scientists believe fusion power stations are still decades away, the technology’s potential hard to ignore. Fusion reactions emit no carbon, produce no long-lived radioactive waste and a small cup of the hydrogen fuel could theoretically power a house for hundreds of years.
Fusion energy Torus and First Light Fusion in UK
In Oxford UK, there is the Joint European Torus(JET) has been working on fusion energy since 1984. It’s on operational magnetically confined plasma physics experiment.
JET announced the record fifty nine megajoules of sustained fusion energy was produced by researchers in February 2022 to deliver safe and sustainable carbon free energy in the future.
JET is the first device to produce controlled fusion power with deuterium and tritium and holds the world record fusion power. The JET facilities are collectively used by all European fusion laboratories under the EURO fusion consortium.
JET is unique in its capabilities not only for deuterium-tritium operations, but also for operating in the required high confinement mode with pure helium, hydrogen and with the ITER wall materials.
JET has carried out more important work to assist the design and construction of ITER, its international successor, which is being in France. The ground breaking research and innovation being done in the UK, in the framework of he EUROfusion consortium and with partners across the globe, is all geared towards making fusion energy a reality.
About 350 scientists from EU countries plus Swiss, UK and Ukraine and more from around the globe, participate in JET experiments each year. CCFE is responsible for its operating maintaining and upgrading the facility for fusion.
This works is carried out under a contract between the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the European Commission.
Startup First Light Fusion based in Oxford is also developing an approach similar to that used at NIF. Its approach to inertial fusion is a pulsed process where like an internal combustion engine, an small amount of fuel is injected and sparked to make it burn.
The main existing approach to inertial fusion uses a large laser as the “spark plug”, triggering the reaction. But this startup uses a high velocity projectile instead.
Source: ft.com, science.org
