What was a rumor yesterday is today’s news. Lawrence Livermore has successfully produced a fusion reaction which actually produces more energy than is used in the reaction, i.e. has “net gain”. That’s a major breakthrough. Here’s a report from KSBW:
WASHINGTON —
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced a “major scientific breakthrough” Tuesday in the decades-long quest to harness fusion, the energy that powers the sun and stars.Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it, something called net energy gain, the Energy Department said.
The achievement will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power, Granholm and other officials said.
“This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery,” Granholm said at a news conference in Washington. The fusion breakthrough “will go down in the history books,” she said.
For my entire adult life practical fusion has been “just around the corner”. Not to diminish the importance of this breakthrough but fusion remains just around the corner. We might have a practical fusion reactor in a year, ten years, or a century.
So, let’s rejoice in this accomplishment while understanding the practical hurdles that remain.
