For the first time, scientists produced more energy than was consumed in a nuclear fusion reaction. “This breakthrough will change the future of clean power and America’s national defense forever,” the U.S. Department of Energy said.
For the first time, federally-funded scientists with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California produced more energy than was consumed in a fusion reaction.
Nuclear power used today is created by a different process, called fission, which relies on splitting atoms and harnessing that energy, while also producing radioactive waste. Nuclear fusion, if it can be produced at scale, has long been considered the Holy Grail in the push for clean energy and slowing the global warming that is intensifying natural disasters, acidifying oceans and bringing extreme heat and drought.
Earlier this year in Europe, a large, doughnut-shaped machine known as a tokamak, developed by scientists near Oxford, generated a record-breaking 59 megajoules of sustained nuclear fusion energy over five seconds during trials, the scientists revealed.In Orange County, California, another contender in the fusion race, TAE Technologies, is on track to develop the first commercial prototype power plant for clean fusion energy by 2030, its CEO Michl Binderbauer told MarketWatch earlier this year.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Energy Department announces nuclear fusion milestone: ‘Clean energy source that could revolutionize the world’In an experiment, using a process called inertial confinement fusion, researchers at the lab in Livermore, Calif., were able to produce more energy than they put into the laser, the first time this has ever been achieved.
Read more »
Energy Department announces nuclear fusion milestone: 'Clean energy source that could revolutionize the world'
Read more »
U.S. Energy Department to spend $3.7 billion on carbon removalThe U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday agreed to commit $3.7 billion to finance projects to remove planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere and meet the nation's goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Read more »
Department of Energy to announce nuclear fusion breakthrough on Tuesday; reportsScientists have apparently made a critical breakthrough in a long-sought energy system that could make clean, carbon-free and non-radioactive electricity production in the decades to come.
Read more »
Top official at Department of Energy out after allegations of luggage theftSam Brinton is now a former deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel waste disposition at the Office of Nuclear Energy.
Read more »
Jim Cramer says Constellation Energy and Sempra Energy are dependable utility stocksJim Cramer advised investors to consider adding shares of “steady-eddy” utility companies to their portfolios for their dependability.
Read more »