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Not exactly a Kitty Hawk moment, but technically a step toward commercial fusion power.
https://www.sciencealert.com/for-the...ed-by-the-fuel
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/168
In an earlier post I talked about the target we are trying to hit, where the amount of energy put into the system is exceeded by the energy created by the fusion reaction ("Q>1"). So far, we have been able to create a fusion reaction, but only at an expense of energy that vastly exceeded the output. At Q>1, we reach or at least approach "ignition," the point at which energy output from the fusion process will be able to perpetuate the fusion reaction.
This latest step has a very technical claim to reaching Q>1. They used a different process than most others (including Commonwealth Fusion, the entity that made the recent breakthrough in magnet technology). Instead of the tokamuk (donut) design, they fired lasers at a tiny capsule of hydrogen isotopes. This created conditions necessary to trigger a fusion reaction, which output a record 1.3 megajoules of energy. The fuel capsule generated over five times more energy than it absorbed from the lasers, technically meaning we had a result where more energy was generated by the fusion reaction than was absorbed by the fuel. As one physicist quoted in the second article put it, “the scientific demonstration of the ignition process has indeed been achieved.”
This is a technical achievement, like I said, because the actual input from the lasers was 1.9 megajoules, exceeding the 1.3 megajoule output of the reaction. A lot of energy is lost between shooting the laser and reaching the fuel capsule. Creating the 1.9-MJ-laser input, moreover, required around 400 MJ of electricity.
So, no ticker tape parades warranted just yet. We still have a long way to go even to get to the more meaningful sense of Q>1, where the energy outputs exceed the energy inputs-- much less the higher Q ratios where the outputs can power the reaction, and then generate excesses to put on the grid. But it's a step.
https://www.sciencealert.com/for-the...ed-by-the-fuel
https://physics.aps.org/articles/v14/168
In an earlier post I talked about the target we are trying to hit, where the amount of energy put into the system is exceeded by the energy created by the fusion reaction ("Q>1"). So far, we have been able to create a fusion reaction, but only at an expense of energy that vastly exceeded the output. At Q>1, we reach or at least approach "ignition," the point at which energy output from the fusion process will be able to perpetuate the fusion reaction.
This latest step has a very technical claim to reaching Q>1. They used a different process than most others (including Commonwealth Fusion, the entity that made the recent breakthrough in magnet technology). Instead of the tokamuk (donut) design, they fired lasers at a tiny capsule of hydrogen isotopes. This created conditions necessary to trigger a fusion reaction, which output a record 1.3 megajoules of energy. The fuel capsule generated over five times more energy than it absorbed from the lasers, technically meaning we had a result where more energy was generated by the fusion reaction than was absorbed by the fuel. As one physicist quoted in the second article put it, “the scientific demonstration of the ignition process has indeed been achieved.”
This is a technical achievement, like I said, because the actual input from the lasers was 1.9 megajoules, exceeding the 1.3 megajoule output of the reaction. A lot of energy is lost between shooting the laser and reaching the fuel capsule. Creating the 1.9-MJ-laser input, moreover, required around 400 MJ of electricity.
So, no ticker tape parades warranted just yet. We still have a long way to go even to get to the more meaningful sense of Q>1, where the energy outputs exceed the energy inputs-- much less the higher Q ratios where the outputs can power the reaction, and then generate excesses to put on the grid. But it's a step.
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