Another American breakthrough with nuclear fusion
By: Romy de Weert
Researchers from the United States have succeeded in generating energy again with nuclear fusion. It is the second time in a few months that a nuclear fusion experiment has been successful. What is nuclear fusion, and why is it so promising?
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved energy gains from nuclear fusion for the second time since last December. According to the researchers, it is a historic breakthrough in the search for an almost unlimited, safe and clean energy source.
What is nuclear fusion?
Nuclear fusion fuses together the nuclei of atoms, the tiny particles that make up everything in the universe. This happens at an extremely high temperature and pressure. The process takes place continuously in stars: the intense heat of the sun fuses hydrogen atoms into helium, releasing a lot of energy. The sun uses that energy to burn.
Nuclear fusion is important because it can be an endless source of clean energy. Nuclear fusion is not the same as nuclear energy. In the latter process, atoms are not joined, but split. Radioactive waste is released. You hardly have that problem with nuclear fusion.
More energy generated than consumed
In December, the same Lawrence Livermore researchers achieved a net energy gain for the first time with a nuclear fusion experiment. It took 2.05 megajoules to generate 3.14 megajoules of energy. So more energy was produced than was needed to drive the installation. The results of last weekend's experiment are still being analysed.
The U.S. Department of Energy calls the development a "major scientific breakthrough decades in the making." While the scientists have made a breakthrough, they say the technology is far from ready for use in commercial power plants.
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This is a very interesting piece
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this is very interesting
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Nuclear fusion is an interesting research topic and a powerful energy source if tapped. Interested in seeing more of this