Finally confirmed the ``net increase in energy'' in which the production energy exceeds the input in nuclear fusion
The Financial Times reports that the laser fusion experiment conducted at
Fusion energy breakthrough by US scientists boosts clean power hopes | Financial Times
https://www.ft.com/content/4b6f0fab-66ef-4e33-adec-cfc345589dc7
Nuclear fusion extracts energy together with neutrons by producing helium-4 from deuterium and tritium . Compared to nuclear fission, which has a high risk of runaway due to chain reactions, nuclear fusion reactions are very safe, and the energy obtained from nuclear fusion reactions is about 4 to 5 times higher than nuclear fission reactions. Therefore, it is highly expected as a future energy source.
However, although the nuclear fusion reaction can finally extract a large amount of energy, the difficulty is that the energy cost is high because a huge amount of energy is required to cause the nuclear fusion reaction in the first place. At the time of writing the article, it is said that it is far from practical use because the input energy for causing the nuclear fusion reaction exceeds the output energy.
Many of the nuclear fusion research conducted at the time of writing the article are conducting experiments on `` magnetic confinement method nuclear fusion ''. In this magnetic confinement method, it is necessary to maintain the hydrogen with a strong magnetic force and heat it to an extremely high temperature to create a plasma state that allows nuclear fusion reactions to occur.
At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, we are conducting experiments on `` inertial confinement laser fusion'' that causes a nuclear fusion reaction by irradiating a small capsule containing hydrogen plasma with a laser.
Although this inertial confinement method requires the preparation of a high-output laser, the point is that it can be performed at a relatively low temperature compared to the magnetic confinement method. In 2021
According to the Financial Times, in an experiment that began at the end of November 2022, about 2.5 megajoules of energy was obtained for about 2.1 megajoules of laser irradiation. In other words, the output energy corresponding to about 120% of the input energy was obtained.
However, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory says that the analysis of the experimental results is still in progress and cannot be said to be accurate until that process is completed. According to an anonymous official, the energy obtained from the fusion reaction was larger than expected, which damaged some diagnostic equipment and took time to analyze the results.
Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Undersecretary for Nuclear Security Jill Fulby to Announce “Major Scientific Breakthroughs” December 13, 2022 ET at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory He said he would and declined to comment further.
Plasma physicist Arthur Turrell told the Financial Times, ``If we see a net increase in energy, we're witnessing a moment in history. We have struggled to get more energy out than put in. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory may have finally and completely defeated their decades-old goal.' I am commenting.
technological challenge humanity has ever undertaken. Scientists have struggled to show that fusion can release more energy out than is put in since the 1950s, and the researchers at Lawrence Livermore seem to have finally and absolutely smashed this decades-old goal.
—Arthur Turrell (@arthurturrell) December 11, 2022
According to the Fusion Industry Association, in the 12 months to the end of June 2022, fusion companies have raised $2.83 billion (approximately ¥390 billion) in investment, bringing the total private sector investment to date to about It reached 4.9 billion dollars (about 670 billion yen). Famous investors are also paying attention to nuclear fusion technology, and it is reported that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is investing about 11 billion yen to start a fusion power plant in 2025. I'm here.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos CEO invested 11 billion yen in nuclear fusion power plant to start in 2025 - GIGAZINE
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