Explained: What Is The Net Energy Gain As Scientists Make Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough

Recently, Scientists have reached a nuclear fusion breakthrough! American scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California set off a nuclear fusion reaction that resulted in a net energy gain, a source told CNN.

What does this mean, you wonder? That an infinite source of clean energy could be around the corner, ending our spell of dependence on fossil fuels that have polluted Earth's atmosphere, resulting in extreme climate changes.

An endless supply of clean energy is believed to be attainable from nuclear fusion. Thus, the recent announcement of net energy gain¡ªmore energy generated by the fusion reaction than consumed to produce it¡ªfor the first time ever has sparked excitement around the globe.

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What is Nuclear fusion?

The process of nuclear fusion is the merging of two light atomic nuclei into one heavier one while generating enormous quantities of energy. Nuclear reactions occur in a material state known as plasma, which is a hot, charged gas consisting of loose electrons and positive ions and has unique features that set it apart from solids, liquids, or other gases.

This reaction is what powers not only the sun but all other stars. In our sun, nuclei must collide with one another at temperatures that exceed 10 million degrees Celsius in order to fuse. They get adequate energy from the high temperature to mitigate their electrical attraction to one another.

The nuclear force that attracts the nuclei together will eventually overcome the electrical repulsion once they are quite close to one another, allowing them to fuse. To increase the likelihood of a collision, the nuclei must be restricted within a narrow area for this to occur. The intense pressure brought on by the sun's powerful gravity creates the ideal environment for fusion.

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Quest for fusion

Scientists have been working to replicate and harness nuclear fusion since the early 1930s when the principle of the process was first discovered. This is due to the fact that nuclear fusion has the potential to produce practically endless amounts of clean, secure, and cost-effective energy if it can be duplicated on Earth at an industrial scale.

Fission, which is utilised in nuclear power plants, could provide four times as much energy per kilogram of fuel as fusion, and approximately four million times as much energy as burning coal or oil.

Scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), in the United States recently reported they had generated more energy from a fusion test than the experiment had used (3.15 megajoules versus 2.05 MJ), or what is known as "net energy gain" from fusion. Fusion attempts have so far consumed more energy or merely balanced out.

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Scientists have been working with fusion over the past 70 years with a variety of objectives in mind, including energy security.

The NIF scientists combined the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium. Deuterium and tritium both have one proton and one neutron in their nuclei, whereas the nucleus of 'regular' hydrogen has one proton and no neutrons. In a fusion reaction, deuterium and tritium combine to create an energetic helium nucleus, which consists of two protons, two neutrons, and one neutron.

In a technique known as inertial confinement fusion, the NIF experiment pummels a tiny particle of deuterium and tritium with light from 192 lasers. This resulted in the collision of some nuclei, which fused to form helium nuclei and release energy.

What is its energy potential?

Recent years have seen numerous advancements announced by fusion initiatives in China, the UK, and Germany. France continues to work on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in addition to the LLNL project in the United States (ITER). 33 private enterprises responded to the Fusion Industry Association's 2022 report, according to report. These businesses now receive 4.8 billion dollars in support, an increase of about 1.7 times from 2021 levels.

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While the NIF's "net energy gain" is undoubtedly a positive development, utilizing fusion energy effectively still looks to be a long way off at this time for a number of reasons.

First, the price. For instance, according to its administration, the cost of the ITER facility might range from 22 billion dollars to 65 billion dollars (by the US department of energy). Next is the significant parasitic power drain. Fusion reactors require enormous amounts of power to function. It took 400 MJ simply to charge the lasers for the NIF success (3.15 MJ output vs. 2.05 MJ input). The electricity requirement for the entire facility should be added.

Third, NIFs were only one instance. It needs to be done a million times faster using lasers that are approximately 1,000 times more efficient in order to genuinely meet energy demand.