New success moves world closer to ‘holy grail’ of near-limitless energy from nuclear fusion
California scientists have once again managed to harness ‘star power’ by using lasers to fuse two atoms together
US scientists have repeated the landmark feat of achieving net energy gain from a nuclear fusion reaction, moving the world closer to what has been hailed as a source of near-limitless clean energy.
A team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has for a second time managed to use lasers to fuse together two atoms, the same process that generates the light and heat from stars.
Crucially, they achieved what is known as fusion ignition – the point at which a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining instead of requiring a constant input of energy.
The team first achieved fusion ignition, hailed as a “holy grail” for clean energy, in December. This time they have reportedly managed to get a higher energy output, although the results are still being analysed.