World-record fusion experiment produced even more energy than expected – By Tim De Chant (Techcrunch) / Dec 13, 2022
It’s official: A U.S. Department of Energy lab produced a controlled nuclear fusion reaction that released more energy than it consumed.
On December 5, just after 1:03 a.m. PT, 192 lasers at the National Ignition Facility converged on a small gold cylinder that contained a tiny bead of fuel composed of two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium. In a flash, the cylinder vaporized, emitting X-rays that bombarded the fuel pellet, turning its outer diamond layer into an expanding plasma that compressed the fuel inside to the point where its nuclei fused and released a tremendous amount of energy.
How much energy?
When the BB-sized fuel pellet ignited and produced a sustained fusion reaction, it released about 50% more energy than was imparted by the experiment’s lasers — the world’s largest and most energetic laser system. The lasers’ energy heated the fuel pellet to 150 million degrees Celsius and compressed it with a pressure over twice that found at the sun’s center.
