A moment in history! The United States achieves the first human fusion ignition

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) announced fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). On December 5, the LLNL National Ignition Facility (NIF) conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in human history, reaching the milestone of producing more energy from fusion than the laser used to power it.

On December 5, 2022, the target chamber of the LLNL National Ignition Facility delivered more than 2 million joules of ultraviolet energy through 192 laser beams to a tiny fuel particle to create fusion ignition.

The LLNL experiment exceeded the fusion threshold by delivering 2.05 megajoules of energy to the target, producing a fusion energy output of 3.15 megajoules with an energy gain of 153%. Previously, in August 2021, NIF produced 1.37 megajoules of energy in a fusion reaction, about 70% of the energy of that laser, the closest to a net energy gain in the world.

Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus and release a large amount of energy. In the 60s of the 20th century, a group of pioneering scientists at LLNL hypothesized that lasers could be used to induce fusion in a laboratory setting. Under the leadership of physicist John Nuckolls, this revolutionary idea developed into inertial confinement fusion, which opened up more than 60 years of research and development in lasers, optics, diagnostics, target manufacturing, computer modeling and simulation, and experimental design.

To create fusion ignition, NIF's laser energy is converted into X-rays inside the cavity and then compressed into the fuel chamber until implosion, producing a high-temperature, high-pressure plasma.

In pursuit of this goal, LLNL built a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, resulting in the birth of the world's largest and highest energy laser system, NIF. Located in LLNL in Livermore, California, the size of a stadium uses powerful laser beams to create temperature and pressure, like an exploding nuclear weapon.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the experiment demonstrated for the first time the most basic scientific basis of the U.S. inertial fusion energy (IFE) program. But many advanced technological developments are still needed to enable simple, affordable IFEs to power homes and businesses, and DOE is currently relaunching a broad-based, coordinated IFE program in the United States. This, combined with private sector investment, has a great incentive to drive rapid progress in fusion commercialization.

Inertial fusion energy is a new energy source based on inertial confinement fusion (ICF) to obtain clean deuterium tritium (DT) fusion energy and has commercial application value. In order to achieve IFE commercial power generation around 2030, the United States has formulated a detailed IFE research plan, the first phase 1999~2008 for the verification of principle and related fusion science and technology issues, the second phase 2009~2020 integrated experimental research, the third stage 2020~2030 for the construction of engineering test devices, and finally the demonstration of commercial fusion power station construction.

Reference Link:

https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-national-laboratory-makes-history-achieving-fusion-ignition