The world's first phenomenon "self-heating" has been confirmed and one step forward in realizing a nuclear fusion reactor

There was a new development in nuclear fusion, which is a new energy being developed worldwide with the goal of practical application. Made in IBMSuper computer"SequoiaIn America that is set upLawrence Livermore National LaboratoryIt is inNational ignition facilityThe research team of the world confirmed for the first time in the world that more energy than the energy input in the fusion experiment was released from the fuel.

Fuel gain exceeding unity in an inertially confined fusion implosion: Nature: Nature Publishing Group
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature13008.html


The research team of the National Ignition Facility used 192 high power lasers developed over 3 billion dollars (about 307.6 billion yen). The experiment controls 193 high power lasers and irradiates the fuel pellet containing deuterium with a diameter of about 2 mm and compresses it, causing a nuclear fusion reaction.


In the experiment, the amount of energy released by fusion exceeds the amount of energy absorbed into the fuel "Self heatingThe phenomenon called "world" was confirmed for the first time in the world. The conversion efficiency of energy became more than ten times as much as the experiments that have been done in the past and it is one step closer to the realization of a fusion reactor capable of extracting a large amount of energy from a small amount of energy.

The fact that the world's first self-heating was confirmed brought a major advance in research on how to construct a nuclear fusion reactor, but the National Ignition Facility that conducted the research is "research on the preservation of aged nuclear weapons" It is also true that we mainly receive financial assistance from the US government.


Dr. Hurricane, who led the research, said, "It is too early to make a judgment as to whether it is possible to build a nuclear fusion reactor or impossible," and many more to realize a nuclear fusion reactor It is said that there are technical problems to be solved.