Scientists in California report net energy gain from nuclear fusion for second time

Scientists at the laser facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California have once again managed to produce more energy through nuclear fusion than was consumed during the experiment. Reuters reported the news, citing an LLNL spokesperson. The exact figures are still being assessed, but the experiment was more successful than the one in December, when fusion was achieved for the first time with a net energy gain.

In thermonuclear fusion, light atoms, such as hydrogen, combine at extremely high temperatures to form the nuclei of heavier elements, such as helium. This releases enormous amounts of energy. Fusion experiments are conducted in devices called tokamaks. The US Department of Energy, LLNL’s main sponsor, describes nuclear fusion as the future of clean energy and a step forward in national defence.

Scientists discovered decades ago that nuclear fusion is the source of energy for the Sun and other stars, and teams around the world have been working for years to replicate the process on Earth. However, according to media reports, industrial use of nuclear fusion—which could be the future of carbon-free energy—is still a decade, if not several decades, away, even under optimistic estimates.

At the Cadarache research centre in southeastern France, the ITER reactor is expected to be brought online for its first tests by the end of 2025. Construction of the multi-billion-euro facility began in 2013, although the project has been funded since 2007 by the US, China, the European Union, Russia, India, Japan and South Korea. The tokamak at Cadarache is expected to be fully operational for nuclear fusion in 2035.