National Ignition Facility
A team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States achieved a feat in nuclear fusion experiments earlier on December 5-the output of nuclear fusion reactions is greater than the input energy.This experiment was conducted by the AmericanNational Ignition Facility(National Ignition Facility), using 192 high-energy lasers, uniformly hitting a central fuel cylinder with a size of only a few centimeters from all directions, and relying on the powerful energy at this moment, the “deuterium-tritium” fuel in the center of the fuel cylinder is electrically charged. Slurry and undergo nuclear fusion to generate energy.
A total of 2.05MJ of energy from the ignition facility reaches the fuel ball, and the fuel ball produces an energy output of 3.15MJ after ignition. In absolute terms, this is only equivalent to the energy contained in 680g of TNT, but the net energy output alone is quite an achievement.The National Ignition Facility was actually activated in August last year.Increased the output ratio to 71%it is clear that there has been considerable progress over the past year.
However, it must be mentioned that 2.05MJ is only the energy of the laser “arriving” at the fuel cylinder. The total energy input into the laser generating system before this is about ten times this, but in the process, it is scattered, electrically Various methods such as slurry and heating the experimental bulkhead were lost. Therefore, there is still a long way to go to achieve net output at the level of the entire system.
But even so, the net output of nuclear fusion achieved by NIF is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the nuclear fusion community, which has been full of pessimism for a long time. Of course, it is still unknown whether laser compression ignition technology can generate energy continuously and on a large scale, so it is difficult to say whether it can be scaled up to the size of a power plant. However, at the same time, the ITER nuclear fusion reaction with a completely different technology is under construction on the European side, and it is currently expected to be used for the first time in 2025. If ITER’s magnetically confined plasma technology proves feasible, there are two possible routes to commercial fusion.
At the press conference where the results were published, NIF experts expressed optimism for the first time that nuclear fusion is no longer a technology that will never be realized “50 years later”. After having an empirical basis, the government and private units are more likely to invest more funds to develop practical nuclear fusion technology and accelerate the development of nuclear fusion. Perhaps, it is still possible to see nuclear fusion power manufacturers turn in their lifetime!