On December 5, 2022, scientists for the first time successfully produced more energy from a nuclear fusion experiment than the laser energy used to power it. The 192 lasers at U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility blasted and vaporized the hollow cryogenic target hydrogen encased in diamond, generating the energy needed to compress a deuterium-tritium pellet. The process instigated ignition, confirming that the energy generated by fusion equals or exceeds the energy of the incoming lasers that start the reaction.
The ignition threshold was surpassed as the system delivered 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output. This infographic identifies the components and briefly outlines the processes involved in the inertial confinement experiment.
[See also: Fusion ignition lauded at LLNL]
While it will likely require decades of additional research and development before nuclear fusion energy is commercialized for stationary energy generation purposes, this clean energy source is also projected to be of value for space propulsion, marine applications, and medical and industrial heating.
