The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has announced the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) -- a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making. On Dec. 5, a team at LLNL's National Ignition Facility (NIF) conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach this milestone, also known as scientific energy breakeven, meaning it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it.
From: DOE/Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory
December 13, 2022 -- "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," said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "The
Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting our world-class
scientists -- like the team at NIF -- whose work will help us solve humanity's
most complex and pressing problems, like providing clean power to combat
climate change and maintaining a nuclear deterrent without nuclear
testing."
"We have had a theoretical understanding of
fusion for over a century, but the journey from knowing to doing can be long
and arduous. Today's milestone shows what we can do with perseverance,"
said Dr. Arati Prabhakar, the President's chief adviser for Science and
Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology
Policy.
"Monday, December 5, 2022, was a historic day
in science thanks to the incredible people at Livermore Lab and the National
Ignition Facility. In making this breakthrough, they have opened a new chapter
in NNSA's Stockpile Stewardship Program," NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby
said. "I would like to thank the members of Congress who have supported
the National Ignition Facility because their belief in the promise of visionary
science has been critical for our mission. Our team from around the DOE
national laboratories and our international partners have shown us the power of
collaboration."
"The pursuit of fusion ignition in the
laboratory is one of the most significant scientific challenges ever tackled by
humanity, and achieving it is a triumph of science, engineering, and most of
all, people," LLNL Director Dr. Kim Budil said. "Crossing this
threshold is the vision that has driven 60 years of dedicated pursuit -- a
continual process of learning, building, expanding knowledge and capability,
and then finding ways to overcome the new challenges that emerged. These are
the problems that the U.S. national laboratories were created to solve."
"This astonishing scientific advance puts us on
the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered
by new clean fusion energy," U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer
(NY) said. "I commend Lawrence Livermore National Labs and its partners in
our nation's Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, including the
University of Rochester's Lab for Laser Energetics in New York, for achieving
this breakthrough. Making this future clean energy world a reality will require
our physicists, innovative workers and brightest minds at our DOE-funded
institutions, including the Rochester Laser Lab, to double down on their
cutting-edge work. That's why I'm also proud to announce today that I've helped
to secure the highest-ever authorization of over $624 million this year in the
National Defense Authorization Act for the ICF program to build on this amazing
breakthrough."
"After more than a decade of scientific and
technical innovation, I congratulate the team at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility for their historic
accomplishment," said U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA). "This is an
exciting step in fusion and everyone at Lawrence Livermore and NIF should be
proud of this milestone achievement."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/12/221213102033.htm
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