In a paper published in the most recent issue of Nature, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) discuss a hydrogen fuel based reaction that produced more energy than it consumed.

In the NIF experiment 192 lasers were fired simultaneously, using some 500 trillion Watts at its power peak. Focused on a 1cm diameter gold cylinder, the laser heated the metallic container by millions of degrees forcing it to jettison X-rays that were then focused on a plastic pellet filled with the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium.

As the container’s isotopes were radiated they began imploding upon themselves, compressing to 1/35 their normal size. During this compression the collapsing isotopes transformed into a superheated plasma, a condition under which the hydrogen isotopes fused.

While the NIF’s recent experiments have yielded up to 2.6 times more energy than they’ve consumed, they have failed to produce the extreme conditions required for sustained fusion ignitions.

Ever since physicists began to understand the mysteries of atomic physics, achieving self-sustaining fusion reactions has been a top priority. With the ability turn a few gallons of water into enough energy to provide an entire family with a year’s energy, sustained fusion could create an energy surplus that would allow even the most energy intensive experiments and technologies to run without any financial burden.

Although most experts agree that fusion research will likely begin commercialization sometime in the 2050s, breakthroughs like the one made at the NIF could entice lawmakers to invest more in the technology – speeding up the timetable for fusion’s entrance on the energy stage.

Image Courtesy of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory