{"id":13515,"date":"2022-12-14T16:08:14","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T16:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ambassadornews.org\/?p=13515"},"modified":"2022-12-14T16:08:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T16:08:19","slug":"what-is-nuclear-fusion-and-why-is-it-such-a-big-deal%ef%bf%bc%ef%bf%bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ambassadornews.org\/en\/what-is-nuclear-fusion-and-why-is-it-such-a-big-deal%ef%bf%bc%ef%bf%bc\/","title":{"rendered":"What is nuclear fusion and why is it such a big deal\ufffc\ufffc"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists and engineers have been working on trying to harness this form of energy for decades<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a breakthrough in nuclear fusion, a method\u00a0of producing clean energy,\u00a0that has many people hopeful for the future<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The achievement was reached\u00a0by scientists at the\u00a0Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory\u00a0(new window)<\/a>\u00a0in California<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear fusion may be a new concept to many, but scientists have been working on it\u00a0since the 1940s\u00a0(new window)<\/a>. However, they have faced a tough challenge: how to produce more energy than it takes\u00a0to create it. It almost seemed like an insurmountable challenge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until today<\/p>\n\n\n\n

?What is nuclear fusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nuclear fusion is a process where two lighter elements combine to make a heavier element\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s the same process that powers our sun, where protons of hydrogen atoms collide violently and at incredibly high temperatures at the core,\u00a0fusing\u00a0together to produce a helium atom<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here on Earth, nuclear fusion is produced by fusing the elements\u00a0deuterium and tritium. Deuterium is quite plentiful and can be found in water, but is most abundant in our oceans.\u00a0Tritium, on the other hand, is less plentiful and is primarily found in our atmosphere, a result of cosmic radiation. Tritium is also made in nuclear explosions and is\u00a0a byproduct\u00a0from\u00a0nuclear reactors<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sun’s massive gravitational force allows it to fuse\u00a0hydrogen\u00a0atoms,\u00a0but to create fusion on Earth, scientists need to apply\u00a0extremely high pressures and temperatures that are\u00a0roughly 100 million degrees Celsius, or 10 times hotter than the sun’s core<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there are different ways to try to produce nuclear fusion, scientists at the California lab used 192 lasers focused on the inner wall of a cylinder that contained a small capsule\u00a0(about the size of a BB) of fusion fuel:\u00a0deuterium and tritium\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That generated X-rays from the wall that struck the capsule, squeezing the\u00a0fuel. It stayed hot, dense and round enough\u00a0for long enough\u00a0that it ignited, producing more energy than the lasers\u00a0used<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Dec. 5, 2022, a team at LLNL's @lasers_llnl<\/a> conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in history to achieve fusion ignition. Also known as scientific energy breakeven, the experiment produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it. pic.twitter.com\/t9htICEcuh<\/a><\/p>— Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (@Livermore_Lab) December 13, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>