US: After news outlets reported that a federal laboratory had just accomplished a significant milestone in nuclear fusion research, the US Department of Energy indicated Sunday that it will reveal a “major scientific advance” this week.
According to a report published on Sunday by The Financial Times, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have successfully generated a “net energy gain” using an experimental fusion reactor.
That would mark the first occasion when scientists successfully produced more energy in a fusion reaction — the same kind that drives the Sun — than was used during the process, which might mark a significant advancement in the quest for carbon-free energy.
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US Energy Secretary to announce a big scientific breakthrough
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm would “announce a big scientific breakthrough” on Tuesday, according to the Energy Department and LLNL officials, who declined to verify or corroborate the FT claim.
A representative for LLNL further stated that their “study is still ongoing.”
When that process is finished on Tuesday, she said, “We look forward to revealing more.”
According to the FT, which cited three sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings, the fusion reaction that resulted in a net energy gain of 120 percent took place within the last two weeks.
Two persons acquainted with the research later confirmed the development, according to the Washington Post, and a senior fusion scientist told the newspaper, “To most of us, this was only a matter of time.”
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Nuclear fusion generates so little waste and emits no greenhouse gases
Some experts believe that nuclear fusion has the potential to be the energy source of the future since it generates so little waste and emits no greenhouse gases.
California congressman Ted Lieu tweeted, “If this fusion energy breakthrough is real, it might be a game changer for the globe.”
The method now utilised in nuclear power plants, fission, is different from fusion in that it fuses two atomic nuclei as opposed to dividing one.
Nearly 200 lasers the size of three football fields make up the LLNL fusion facility, which bombards a small location with a lot of energy to start a fusion reaction.
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