The world’s only fusion experiment that actually gives back more energy than it takes in is now breaking its own records. According to
TechCrunch, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently pushed its fusion yield—first to 5.2 megajoules, and then to 8.6 megajoules—more than doubling the energy released in its
historic shot in 2022.
That original breakthrough was the first time scientists had ever achieved “ignition”—a fusion reaction that generated more energy (3.15 megajoules) than the lasers put into the fuel (2.05 megajoules).
Importantly, that achievement does not take into account the amount of energy put into the system to power the reaction—essentially, 300 megajoules of energy from the plug in the wall. Nevertheless, the accomplishment indicated the tantalizing promise of nuclear fusion as a carbon-free, essentially limitless source of energy. Jill Hruby, the under secretary for nuclear security, summed it up as “the first tentative steps towards a clean energy source that could revolutionize the world.”
