Fusion research breakthrough

[bernorange 8359]

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For the first time last week scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory outside San Francisco were able to create a nuclear fusion reaction that generated more energy than was used to start it, ..., according to the Department of Energy.
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Right now scientists are focused on two methods to achieve nuclear fusion, one setting off a nuclear reaction and using magnetic fields to contain it and the other by burning concentrated nuclear fuel with high-powered lasers, the latter of which scientists at Lawrence Livermore used.

The problem with both technologies has been that it takes more energy to create the fusion reaction than it produces. Scientists have been steadily improving the efficiency of the reaction but the recent breakthrough in California represented the first time they achieved a net energy gain.
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She said while it would likely be decades before the technology achieved commercialization, last week's breakthrough was a, "fundamental building block."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/fusion-breakthrough-a-milestone-for-clean-energy-energy-secretary-says/ar-AA15ekWu

 

^ Press conference lasts 30 minutes, then there is a panel discussion with the Lawrence Livermore folk.

[Hagbard Celine 10848]

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-secretive-inventor-of-the-navy-s-bizarre-ufo-patents-finally-talks?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[Armybrat 40814]

I remember well when it was fashionable to be skeptical of the U.S. Navy’s space technology 65 years ago, before they regained their reputation with the Polaris & Trident.

 

[bernorange 8359]

I forgot I had started this thread.  I never posted the follow up (to the OP) a few weeks later:

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... Unlike today's nuclear plants, which split atoms apart, fusing them is many times more powerful, with little long-term radiation. And it's easy to turn off, so no meltdowns. But getting from the first ignition to a powerplant will be hard.

Scott Pelley: How many shots do you take in a day?

Tammy Ma: We take, on average, a little more than one shot per day.

Scott Pelley: If this was theoretically a commercial power plant, how many shots a day would be required?

Tammy Ma: Approximately ten shots per second would be required. And the other big challenge, of course, is not just increasing the repetition rate, but also getting the gain out of the targets to go up to about a factor of 100.

Not only would the reactions have to produce 100 times more energy, but a power plant would need 900,000 perfect diamond shells a day. Also, the lasers would have to be much more efficient. Remember, December's breakthrough put two units of energy in and got three out? Well, it took 300 units of power to fire the lasers. By that standard, it was 300 in, three out. That detail was not front and center at the Department of Energy's December news conference which fused the advance with an unlikely timeline.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nuclear-fusion-60-minutes-2023-01-15/