Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have announced the success of an experiment at their National Ignition Facility. With analysis of the results still underway, it would be the first net energy gain from a nuclear fusion. The news was revealed on Sunday by the Financial Times newspaper with information provided by sources with knowledge of the experiment.
The Joint European Torus (JET) has achieved a relevant scientific milestone related to energy production from nuclear fusion reactions. The results confirm some of the technological options selected for the large international ITER experiment. Spain has proposed to build a scientific facility in Granada to develop materials with which to build future reactors.
The dream of obtaining electrical energy from the fusion of two atomic nuclei is a little closer. Results obtained with some of the most powerful lasers on the planet show that one of the strategies to achieve this, nuclear fusion by inertial confinement, works as predicted 50 years ago.