The U.S. Energy Department has announced a significant breakthrough in the quest for clean nuclear fusion energy. After more than 60 years of research for the first time, a fusion experiment has produced more energy than was used to start the process. 

What is Nuclear Fusion?

Nuclear fusion is the process by which two light atoms combine to make a single heavy atom while releasing huge amounts of energy.

Its hope is that further development will one day create an inexhaustible source of clean energy. Fusion involves the same process that gives the sun its energy but experts are warning that it’ll be many years before the technology is ready for commercial use.

Key facts!

• Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved Fusion ignition.
• And the process is creating more energy from Fusion reactions than the energy used to start the process.
• It is the very first time this has been attempted in a controlled setting anywhere in the globe.
• Fusion experts believe that it is one of the greatest scientific achievements of the 21st century.
• In the process of fusion, scientists are trying to produce clean abundant energy.
• They are looking for a carbon-free clean safe source of energy that is inexhaustible.
• Also, experts feel this is becoming more and more important as we progress in this century.
• Fusion is the process that powers up our sun and the goal is to try to mimic this here on Earth.
• This is not an easy task as the process generates very high temperatures to make the fusion reaction work.
• Scientists claim that one could reach temperatures of about 150 million degrees.
• There are many approaches to generating a fusion reaction.
• Experts at the U.S. Energy Department used powerful lasers to compress the fuel.
• Thereafter, they were able to reach the conditions needed for fusion reactions to take place to produce the heat.
• The next step is to turn it into electricity.
• Scientists believe that its scalability and how to make it commercially available will be challenging.

Youtube user “Click View” explains the process of Nuclear Fusion.

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