Fusion experiment breaks record, blasts out 10 quadrillion watts of energy

[Judi Lynn]

By Tom Metcalfe - Live Science Contributor about 7 hours ago

Scientists used an unconventional method of creating nuclear fusion to yield a record-breaking burst of energy of more than 10 quadrillion watts, by firing intense beams of light from the world's largest lasers at a tiny pellet of hydrogen.

Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California said they had focused 192 giant lasers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) onto a pea-size pellet, resulting in the release of 1.3 megajoules of energy in 100 trillionths of a second — roughly 10% of the energy of the sunlight that hits Earth every moment, and about 70% of the energy that the pellet had absorbed from the lasers. The scientists hope one day to reach the break-even or "ignition" point of the pellet, where it gives off 100% or more energy than it absorbs.

The energy yield is significantly larger than the scientists expected and much greater than the previous record of 170 kilojoules they set in February.

The researchers hope the result will expand their ability to research nuclear fusion weapons, the NIF's core mission, and that it could lead to new ways to harness energy from nuclear fusion — the process that powers the sun and other stars. Some scientists hope that nuclear fusion could one day be a relatively safe and sustainable method for generating energy on Earth.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/fusion-experiment-record-breaking-energy.html?utm_source=notification

[Hugh_Lebowski]

1. Fine print: after being belted with 13 quadrillion watts of energy ...

How ... useful.

[at140]

2. "in 100 trillionths of a second"

I don't think that is enough time to recharge my phone.

[Mister Ed]

3. More powerful fusion reactions than that were created in the 1950's and 1960's.

Of course, finding a way to harness the energy remained problematic...

[Chainfire]

4. Well, if they end up blowing our asses up at least we won't have to worry about Republican Fascists.