American laboratory announces ‘historic breakthrough’ in nuclear cycle – International

A public American laboratory celebrated “historic progress” this Tuesday (17) after inspiring scientists around the world to produce more energy through nuclear fusion than ever before.

A test carried out at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California on August 8 was described as “possible by the intensity of the laser light”, not less than 192, and “aimed at a hunting missile”.

It produces a hotspot with a diameter of one strand of hair, producing over 100 trillion watts per second and over 10 trillion watts per spin. ”

It has eight times more energy than last spring experiments in the Northern Hemisphere.

Nuclear fusion is considered a future energy by its proponents, especially since it produces little waste and no greenhouse gases.

This is different from the fission, technology currently used in nuclear power plants, which involves breaking down heavy nuclear connections to release energy.

Fusion is the reverse process: two light nuclei “marry” to form a heavier one. In this case, two isotopes (atomic types) of hydrogen form helium.

This is the process that takes place in the stars, including our sun.

“This development puts researchers very close to the ignition threshold,” says the report, which means that the energy produced is greater than the moment used to trigger the reaction.

Arrangements are already underway to reflect on this experiment, which will take “several months” and the report states that more detailed information will be published in the journal Science.

“This result is a historic breakthrough for passive control fusion research,” said Kim Poodle, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

“The NIF teams have done an excellent job,” commented Professor Steven Rose, co-director of the Center for Research in this area of ​​Imperial College London. “This is the most significant improvement in the sluggish merger since it was launched in 1972.”

“Turning this concept into a renewable energy source can be a lengthy process and is expected to overcome major technological challenges,” said Jeremy Sidenton, co-director of the same center in London.

In France, the international project Eter aims to restrict energy production from the merger of hydrogen. Assembly of the reactor began a year ago at the Bouches-du-Rhone Department.