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US moves forward with history's first nuclear fusion experiment, paving the way for infinite clean energy

Written by Valdemar Medeiros
Published 18/12/2022 às 18:29
Updated 21/12/2022 às 09:49
USA, nuclear fusion, clean energy - USA nuclear energy
Photo: A technician evaluates equipment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, in the USA, specialized in nuclear research. Image is from 2012 — Photo: Damien Jemison/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory via AP

The US is moving forward with the first nuclear fusion tests that promise to generate more clean energy than the system consumes. However, it is still early for the “artificial sun” to supply homes.

The US Department of Energy announced, last Tuesday (13), that it successfully conducted the first nuclear fusion experiment in history to generate more electricity than consumed by the system itself. The novelty is seen as a breakthrough in the production of clean energy. Unlike power plants nuclear energy, which act by nuclear fission, which involves the breaking of heavy atoms to generate energy, nuclear fusion consists of uniting light atoms, with a small portion of their mass being converted into pure energy, functioning as a “artificial sun”.

New US project is a first for the clean energy industry

This same process is what happens inside the Sun and other stars, with the benefit of not generating radioactive waste. However, generating a “Artificial Sun” on Earth still faces some technological and engineering challenges, considering that it is necessary to heat the material to very high temperatures, as well as to manage to keep the reaction at a stable level for a long period.

A Nuclear fusion it has been studied for more than a century and is now seen as one of the main candidates for clean energy sources in the future, which could combat climate change and make current nuclear power plants a thing of the past.

Until then, other reactors around the world had been breaking clean energy generation records with the “Artificial Sun” for a few seconds, however it still had not managed to exceed the amount of energy needed to start the ignition of nuclear fusion.

The new US experiment took place on December 5th, at the facilities of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) located in California. The experiment delivered 2,05 megajoules to the reactor, resulting in an output energy of 3015 megajoules.

US project started in 1960

The US “Artificial Sun” emerged in the 60s, when researchers from LLNL raised the hypothesis that it would be possible to use laser beams to induce nuclear fusion in the laboratory. The research involved creating a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, leading to the development of the National Ignition Facility (NIF), the largest and most energetic laser in the world.

For the development of nuclear fusion ignition, laser energy is transformed into X-rays inside a small container, which then compresses a fuel capsule until it implodes, generating a plasma of high temperature and pressure, so that clean energy is generated. .

According to the researchers, the experiment is historic for reaching the balance of kinetic energy, that is, it produced more energy from the fusion than the energy used in the laser used for its ignition. However, the US department says that many advances in technology and science still need to be made before nuclear fusion can power homes.

Nuclear fusion energy problems

The search for clean energy generation by the same process as the stars has already resulted in several dazzling predictions that pointed to a clean energy revolution. Expectations were always exaggerated and unfulfilled promises caused public opinion to go awry.

Although there is indifference and funding difficulties, researchers in the sector are progressing and in the future they must solve the great technical challenges involved in the production process.

This experiment is just one step along the way towards a fusion facility that would run constantly, powering entire cities. It's easy to see why the energy and fusion field is subject to high expectations, as the project itself sounds epic.

Valdemar Medeiros

Journalist in training, specialist in creating content with a focus on SEO actions. Writes about the Automotive Industry, Renewable Energy and Science and Technology

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