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Post by marylandstoke on Dec 13, 2022 11:50:55 GMT
Scientists claiming a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time.
Announcement later today.
Cant help but feel I have seen this story before, and it’s disproval.
Lets hope this time they are right:
According to a report in the Financial Times, which has yet to be confirmed by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California that is behind the work, researchers have managed to release 2.5 MJ of energy after using just 2.1 MJ to heat the fuel with lasers.
Dr Robbie Scott, of the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Central Laser Facility (CLF) Plasma Physics Group, who contributed to this research, described the results as a “momentous achievement”.
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Post by riverman on Dec 13, 2022 12:19:03 GMT
If this breakthrough is confirmed and improved upon this is exactly what we need to produce sustainable, clean energy. It's the holy grail of nuclear fuels. It'll cost a shitload of time and money to get up and running but more than worth it in the long run. Excellent news.
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Post by Rednwhitenblue on Dec 13, 2022 12:47:37 GMT
I remember the first time something like this was announced at one of my old universities, Southampton, in about 1990 and it sadly turned out to be measurement errors. I think they were claiming room temperature nuclear fusion so it always sounded unlikely! Imagine where we might have been right now if we'd been enjoying nuclear fusion energy for the last 20 years or so instead of burning fossil fuels.
Let's hope this one is the start of something good.
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Post by flea79 on Dec 13, 2022 17:10:27 GMT
it appears they have managed to complete a fusion experiment that has produced more energy than they put in, great news
its only cost 3.5 billion usd, just think Musk could have funded 44 billion in this research and really helped the planet
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Post by andystokey on Dec 13, 2022 17:23:54 GMT
it appears they have managed to complete a fusion experiment that has produced more energy than they put in, great news its only cost 3.5 billion usd, just think Musk could have funded 44 billion in this research and really helped the planet So long as the energy required to power the lasers isn't counted it netts out. I think the total output was about 15x boiled kettles. I remember doing the calculations for this back at uni in 1980s. Probably only 4 or 5 decades to go at this rate of progress so I don't expect I will ever see it. We need this kind of investment put into existing tech we can use in the next 2-5 years if global warming isn't to be an extinction event. In fairness to Musk he has invested billions in SolarCity and nearly a trillion dollars to transform the economics of electric cars and battery development. At the end of the day this is still a very expensive science project, is about the same cost as the LHC. Big science costs big money.
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Post by mtrstudent on Dec 13, 2022 17:31:19 GMT
Cant help but feel I have seen this story before, and it’s disproval. It's exciting! This one looks proper legit to me. I'm pretty sure they've done it. 15 years ago I was told fusion is 30 years away. It's like 29 years away after today's breakthrough.
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Post by Rednwhitenblue on Dec 13, 2022 18:25:06 GMT
How about every gas and oil company is subject to a new additional levy which goes directly towards R&D on this to speed up delivery.
Could forget all about climate change and the "sinister green agenda" if so.
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Dec 13, 2022 18:28:38 GMT
I’m awaiting a danceswithclams post about this band supporting World of Twist in the 90’s
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Post by metalhead on Dec 13, 2022 20:34:23 GMT
I remember when those students/researchers bullshitted about this about 20-30 years ago. I seem to think I was about 10 at the time.
Let's hope they've got it this time.
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Post by marylandstoke on Dec 13, 2022 20:44:50 GMT
If you can be bothered.
The announcement.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) today announced the achievement of fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) — a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power. On Dec. 5, a team at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) conducted the first controlled fusion experiment in history to reach this milestone, also known as scientific energy breakeven, meaning it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it. This first-of-its-kind feat will provide unprecedented capability to support NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program and will provide invaluable insights into the prospects of clean fusion energy, which would be a game-changer for efforts to achieve President Biden’s goal of a net-zero carbon economy.
“This is a landmark achievement for the researchers and staff at the National Ignition Facility who have dedicated their careers to seeing fusion ignition become a reality, and this milestone will undoubtedly spark even more discovery,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to supporting our world-class scientists — like the team at NIF — whose work will help us solve humanity’s most complex and pressing problems, like providing clean power to combat climate change and maintaining a nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing.”
target chamber 121322 The target chamber of LLNL’s National Ignition Facility, where 192 laser beams delivered more than 2 million joules of ultraviolet energy to a tiny fuel pellet to create fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022. “We have had a theoretical understanding of fusion for over a century, but the journey from knowing to doing can be long and arduous. Today’s milestone shows what we can do with perseverance,” said Dr. Arati Prabhakar, the President’s chief adviser for Science and Technology and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
“Monday, December 5, 2022, was a historic day in science thanks to the incredible people at Livermore Lab and the National Ignition Facility. In making this breakthrough, they have opened a new chapter in NNSA’s Stockpile Stewardship Program,” NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said. “I would like to thank the members of Congress who have supported the National Ignition Facility because their belief in the promise of visionary science has been critical for our mission. Our team from around the DOE national laboratories and our international partners have shown us the power of collaboration.”
“The pursuit of fusion ignition in the laboratory is one of the most significant scientific challenges ever tackled by humanity, and achieving it is a triumph of science, engineering, and most of all, people,” LLNL Director Dr. Kim Budil said. “Crossing this threshold is the vision that has driven 60 years of dedicated pursuit — a continual process of learning, building, expanding knowledge and capability, and then finding ways to overcome the new challenges that emerged. These are the problems that the U.S. national laboratories were created to solve.”
“This astonishing scientific advance puts us on the precipice of a future no longer reliant on fossil fuels but instead powered by new clean fusion energy,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (NY) said. “I commend Lawrence Livermore National Labs and its partners in our nation’s Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program, including the University of Rochester’s Lab for Laser Energetics in New York, for achieving this breakthrough. Making this future clean energy world a reality will require our physicists, innovative workers and brightest minds at our DOE-funded institutions, including the Rochester Laser Lab, to double down on their cutting-edge work. That’s why I’m also proud to announce today that I’ve helped to secure the highest-ever authorization of over $624 million this year in the National Defense Authorization Act for the ICF program to build on this amazing breakthrough.”
“After more than a decade of scientific and technical innovation, I congratulate the team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the National Ignition Facility for their historic accomplishment,” said U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (CA). “This is an exciting step in fusion and everyone at Lawrence Livermore and NIF should be proud of this milestone achievement.”
“This is an historic, innovative achievement that builds on the contributions of generations of Livermore scientists. Today, our nation stands on their collective shoulders. We still have a long way to go, but this is a critical step and I commend the U.S. Department of Energy and all who contributed toward this promising breakthrough, which could help fuel a brighter clean energy future for the United States and humanity,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed (RI), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“This monumental scientific breakthrough is a milestone for the future of clean energy,” said U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (CA). “While there is more work ahead to harness the potential of fusion energy, I am proud that California scientists continue to lead the way in developing clean energy technologies. I congratulate the scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for their dedication to a clean energy future, and I am committed to ensuring they have all of the tools and funding they need to continue this important work.”
“This is a very big deal. We can celebrate another performance record by the National Ignition Facility. This latest achievement is particularly remarkable because NIF used a less spherically symmetrical target than in the August 2021 experiment,” said U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (CA-19). “This significant advancement showcases the future possibilities for the commercialization of fusion energy. Congress and the Administration need to fully fund and properly implement the fusion research provisions in the recent CHIPS and Science Act and likely more. During World War II, we crafted the Manhattan Project for a timely result. The challenges facing the world today are even greater than at that time. We must double down and accelerate the research to explore new pathways for the clean, limitless energy that fusion promises.”
hohlraum 121322 The hohlraum that houses the type of cryogenic target used to achieve ignition on Dec. 5, 2022, at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility. “I am thrilled that NIF — the United States’ most cutting-edge nuclear research facility — has achieved fusion ignition, potentially providing for a new clean and sustainable energy source in the future. This breakthrough will ensure the safety and reliability of our nuclear stockpile, open new frontiers in science, and enable progress toward new ways to power our homes and offices in future decades,” said U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (CA-15). “I commend the scientists and researchers for their hard work and dedication that led to this monumental scientific achievement, and I will continue to push for robust funding for NIF to support advancements in fusion research.”
LLNL’s experiment surpassed the fusion threshold by delivering 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, resulting in 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output, demonstrating for the first time a most fundamental science basis for inertial fusion energy (IFE). Many advanced science and technology developments are still needed to achieve simple, affordable IFE to power homes and businesses, and DOE is currently restarting a broad-based, coordinated IFE program in the United States. Combined with private-sector investment, there is a lot of momentum to drive rapid progress toward fusion commercialization.
Fusion is the process by which two light nuclei combine to form a single heavier nucleus, releasing a large amount of energy. In the 1960s, a group of pioneering scientists at LLNL hypothesized that lasers could be used to induce fusion in a laboratory setting. Led by physicist John Nuckolls, who later served as LLNL director from 1988 to 1994, this revolutionary idea became inertial confinement fusion, kicking off more than 60 years of research and development in lasers, optics, diagnostics, target fabrication, computer modeling and simulation and experimental design.
To pursue this concept, LLNL built a series of increasingly powerful laser systems, leading to the creation of NIF, the world’s largest and most energetic laser system. NIF — located at LLNL in Livermore, California — is the size of a sports stadium and uses powerful laser beams to create temperatures and pressures like those in the cores of stars and giant planets, and inside exploding nuclear weapons.
X-rays 121322 To create fusion ignition, the National Ignition Facility’s laser energy is converted into X-rays inside the hohlraum, which then compress a fuel capsule until it implodes, creating a high temperature, high pressure plasma. Achieving ignition was made possible by dedication from LLNL employees as well as countless collaborators at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Nevada National Security Site; General Atomics; academic institutions, including the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley, and Princeton University; international partners, including the United Kingdom’s Atomic Weapons Establishment and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission; and stakeholders at DOE and NNSA and in Congress.
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Post by FbrgVaStkFan on Dec 17, 2022 17:02:34 GMT
Check this video out. A new way to do nuclear fusion - Helion. Incredible that a monkey decided to climb down from a tree a mere cosmic blink of an eye ago and is now slamming plasma rings together to do fusion. Amazing stuff.
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Post by wannabee on Dec 17, 2022 17:43:49 GMT
I remember when those students/researchers bullshitted about this about 20-30 years ago. I seem to think I was about 10 at the time. Let's hope they've got it this time. Hear, hear! It's not rocket science is it
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Post by mrcoke on Dec 17, 2022 18:45:17 GMT
I remember when those students/researchers bullshitted about this about 20-30 years ago. I seem to think I was about 10 at the time. Let's hope they've got it this time. I don't think it was bullshit. One of the reasons I left the old Liberal Party after Cherbonyl is that they came out opposed to nuclear power and started pumping out lies I couldn't stomach. I was a strong supporter of nuclear power on two grounds. Firstly to move away from fossil fuels which we had been warned for decades would lead to global warming, and secondly I saw nuclear fission as the stepping stone to nuclear fusion, which though very different will entail many of the same engineering problems that will need to be solved. It will still be many decades away, like replacing blast furnaces for steel production. The goals will eventually be achieved but a long way into the future.
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Post by RichieBarkerOut! on Dec 17, 2022 19:53:14 GMT
I'm on the verge of getting to the age where it appears that the lids on sauce jars are nuclearly fused on.
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Post by butlerstbob on Dec 17, 2022 20:10:03 GMT
I'm on the verge of getting to the age where it appears that the lids on sauce jars are nuclearly fused on. I totally agree Rich, a knife through the top is the only way to open these nuclear enfused jars👍
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Post by wannabee on Dec 17, 2022 20:28:02 GMT
I remember when those students/researchers bullshitted about this about 20-30 years ago. I seem to think I was about 10 at the time. Let's hope they've got it this time. I don't think it was bullshit. One of the reasons I left the old Liberal Party after Cherbonyl is that they came out opposed to nuclear power and started pumping out lies I couldn't stomach. I was a strong supporter of nuclear power on two grounds. Firstly to move away from fossil fuels which we had been warned for decades would lead to global warming, and secondly I saw nuclear fission as the stepping stone to nuclear fusion, which though very different will entail many of the same engineering problems that will need to be solved. It will still be many decades away, like replacing blast furnaces for steel production. The goals will eventually be achieved but a long way into the future. An intermediate solution is SMRs which are scalable less expensive and less time consuming to build Their passive cooling system of the Reactor renders operator shut down redundant 3D Printing of the components used in the Manufacturing Construction and New Fuels complete an attractive package They can also operate alongside Renewables This makes the Governments inexplicable decisions to proceed with Sizewell C and Cumbrian Coal plant even more bizarre I am doubtful either will ever see the light of day
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Post by mrcoke on Dec 22, 2022 9:56:10 GMT
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Post by flea79 on Dec 22, 2022 11:58:59 GMT
im not overly scientific but understand basics
but (forgive me please)
in the marvel films (and comics) Tony Stark powers his suits via a mini ARC reactor and there is also a large one running his empire too
is this nuclear fusion that is powering this?
and if so how far off are we from such technology, i dont mean iron man suits or mini reactors on our shirts, just a large self sustaining reactor?
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