In the News — 2024
December 5, 2024
Laser Focused
What happens in the center of a planet or a star? Alison Saunders ’11 is using high-power lasers to find out. (Reed Magazine)
December 4, 2024
Focused Energy hits milestones in US fusion programme
It says this builds on the work achieved by the National Ignition Facility laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (Nuclear Engineering International)
November 28, 2024
Optimization algorithm gives laser fusion a boost
Developed by physicists at the University of Bordeaux, France, a simulated version of the new technique has already been applied to conditions at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) and could also prove useful at other laser fusion experiments. (Physics World)
November 27, 2024
FST publishes special issue on fusion’s early history
The July 2024 issue of Nuclear News focused on fusion. Editor-in-chief Rick Michal highlighted in his column (p. 4) Los Alamos National Laboratory’s open access special issue of the American Nuclear Society journal Fusion Science and Technology, titled The Early History of Fusion. This article provides a brief summary of the issue. (American Nuclear News)
November 26, 2024
How the world’s biggest laser smashed a nuclear-fusion record
The US National Ignition Facility is the only laboratory where a nuclear-fusion reaction has generated more energy than it consumed. Here’s how it achieved this historic milestone and sparked fresh interest in fusion energy. (Nature)
November 26, 2024
Engineering Doctoral Student Wants to Improve Drone Deterrent Technology
Research into nuclear fusion may have begun in the 1940s, but it was only in late 2022 when scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory were able to achieve a net energy gain in a fusion experiment. (Texas Tech Now)
November 25, 2024
Interview: New public body UKIFS on forming PPP to tackle the challenge of nuclear fusion
Engineers and scientists have have only recently achieved energy net gain – producing more energy than what is put in – from fusion. This was achieved by the National Ignition Facility (Nif) in California at the end of 2022, but there are still a lot of questions as to how the frequently dubbed “limitless” supply of energy will power the world’s grids. (New Civil Engineer)
November 21, 2024
LLNL Supercomputer Confirmed as World’s Most Powerful
The El Capitan supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was verified as the most powerful in the world on Monday, providing the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) a new computational resource to secure the nation’s nuclear weapon stockpile without the need for nuclear testing. (The Independent)
November 20, 2024
Magnetic Drive Inertial Fusion Energy (MD-IFE)
As sustainable fusion energy inches closer to reality, Dr Simon Bott-Suzuki of the University of California San Diego explores progress and persistent challenges. (Innovation News Network)
November 19, 2024
HPE delivers El Capitan, world’s fastest supercomputer, to Lawrence Livermore national lab
El Capitan will address secondary missions in maintaining national security, such as nuclear nonproliferation and counterterrorism, and be used for material discovery, nuclear data, and high energy density science, such as inertial confinement fusion research conducted at the National Ignition Facility. (Manufacturing Today India)
November 17, 2024
Anubal, a startup, takes a crack at nuclear fusion
Anubal Fusion is attempting a new approach to nuclear fusion. (Hindu Business Line)
November 16, 2024
The Quest to Build a Star on Earth
The quest for fusion energy — the clean, potentially limitless source that could end mankind’s power woes — began as an answer to an old question, one we’ve been asking since we first raised our heads toward the sky. (Miami Herald)
November 16, 2024
US nuclear fusion leaps forward with 3D-printed fuel capsules breakthrough
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is exploring the use of advanced 3D printing to mass-produce fuel capsules for fusion energy power plants. (Interesting Engineering)
November 16, 2024
How Do Tokamaks Work And Are They The Future Of Energy?
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), where the work was done, was not a tokamak, but several tokamaks are hot on its tail. (IFL Science)
November 15, 2024
The Quest to Build a Star on Earth
The quest for fusion energy — the clean, potentially limitless source that could end mankind’s power woes — began as an answer to an old question, one we’ve been asking since we first raised our heads toward the sky. (The New York Times)
November 15, 2024
Giant lasers might spark our fusion energy future
A fusion reactor promises almost limitless energy—if we can build it. Physicist Tammy Ma explains how her team achieved fusion ignition, a crucial milestone powered by the world's largest laser. (NPR)
November 15, 2024
Advanced 3D Printing Could Help Develop Fusion Energy
Scientists at a national laboratory in California believe that advanced 3D printing technology could be the key to harnessing “virtually limitless” zero-carbon energy. (ThomasNet)
November 14, 2024
LLNL researchers harness 3D printing for fusion energy
In December 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) achieved fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). (Voxel Matters)
November 12, 2024
Introduction—Fusion, forever the energy of tomorrow?
More than 60 years passed since the development of the first fusion “tokamak” reactor in the old Soviet Union to the first sustained fusion “burn,” or ignition, at the National Ignition Facility in the United States in 2022. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
November 12, 2024
The entanglement of fusion energy research and bombs
The recent achievement of fusion ignition—meaning more energy came out of a self-sustaining fusion reaction than was put in—at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) has brought to the fore long-simmering questions about whether certain experiments violate the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on nuclear explosions. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
November 8, 2024
Building Breakthrough Cultures
In this conversation, recorded live at our NOW conference in San Francisco in June, Brown Advisory's Karina Funk sat down with Kim Budil, Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. For Dr. Budil, stewarding a culture designed for transformational technical breakthroughs–such as fusion ignition–is a matter of national security and global stability. (Brown Advisory Podcast)
November 8, 2024
In lieu of a banner year, a watershed moment
And after scientists at the National Ignition Facility achieved fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022 — a bona fide historical milestone that will live in the annals of more than any singular scientific discipline — the 24 hours bridging Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 last year sent a strong signal that 2023, too, was to be considered a banner year for photonics. (Photonics Spectra)
November 5, 2024
In lieu of a banner year, a watershed moment
And after scientists at the National Ignition Facility achieved fusion ignition on Dec. 5, 2022 — a bona fide historical milestone that will live in the annals of more than any singular scientific discipline — the 24 hours bridging Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 last year sent a strong signal that 2023, too, was to be considered a banner year for photonics. (Photonics Spectra)
November 5, 2024
Finland’s VTT joins US fusion research programme
Finland’s VTT Technical Research has been selected as the first foreign partner to join the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy) programme focusing on enabling commercialisation of fusion energy. (Nuclear Engineering International)
November 5, 2024
Investment is pouring in as the hype around nuclear fusion grows
Scientists have proven that nuclear fusion is feasible. Experiments at the National Ignition Facility in California over the last year, for instance, hit a milestone when they generated more energy than what was used. (Business Insider)
November 3, 2024
Fluor and Longview start design work on laser fusion plant
The planning for the laser fusion plant was enabled by the breakthroughs in fusion energy gain at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF). (Power Engineering)
November 3, 2024
Scientists discover solution to fusion plasma cooling issue with boron coating
Merging the cutting-edge domain of fusion energy with technological ingenuity, scientists have recently made a significant leap forward in creating functional, sustainable nuclear reactors. (Archynetys)
October 31, 2024
Focused Energy to build laser fusion development facility near San Francisco
$65 million investment in Bay Area intended to build on NIF breakthrough achieved in 2022. (Optics.org)
October 30, 2024
Finnish researchers join top fusion energy research group
Finland's VTT research institution has been selected as the first-ever foreign partner for a US project focused on the "holy grail" of commercial fusion energy. (YLE News)
October 30, 2024
Unlocking nuclear fusion: The game-changing energy revolution
A major breakthrough has happened at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where scientists have successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction that resulted in a net energy gain. But what does that actually mean, and why is it so important? (Stars Insider)
October 28, 2024
Will Quantum Computing Turn Out Just Like Nuclear Fusion? Always 50 Years Away?
In 2022, NIF achieved a major milestone when it briefly produced more fusion energy than the energy delivered by the lasers, known as ignition. (Quantum Zeitgeist)
October 28, 2024
Nuclear Fusion Has Stumped Scientists for Decades. Here’s How We’ll Finally Unlock Its Limitless Energy
“If we figure out how to harness this effectively and efficiently, this is it. This is the end. This is the solution,” an expert tells us. (Popular Mechanics)
October 28, 2024
The Global Nuclear Fusion Race: China Takes the Lead
In recent years, breakthroughs in nuclear fusion research in the United States and the United Kingdom have raised hopes for a clean energy future. However, many scientists believe there is still a long way to go to achieve commercial-scale deployment of the technology. (NAI 500)
October 27, 2024
Is Fusion Energy the Key to a Net Zero World?
As global efforts to reach net-zero emissions intensify, the potential of fusion energy to revolutionise this effort is becoming a critical discussion point. (The European Business Review)
October 27, 2024
The Race for Nuclear Fusion Is Heating Up
The Race for Nuclear Fusion Is Heating Up Recent advancements in nuclear fusion research, particularly in the US and UK, have raised hopes for a clean energy future. (OilPrice.com)
October 25, 2024
City Center Ignition Power
A new public art installation at City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon celebrates Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s revolutionary achievement in fusion ignition. (Diablo Magazine)
October 25, 2024
A High-Profile Geneticist Is Launching a Fusion-Power Moonshot
Silicon Valley A-listers are funding Pacific Fusion, a startup that founding CEO Eric Lander says will have a full-scale demonstration system within a decade. (Wired)
October 24, 2024
Fusion Startup Focused Energy to Build Facility in San Francisco
The San Francisco Bay Area is host to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), which houses the National Ignition Facility, with which the company signed a strategic partnership last November. (Photonics Spectra)
October 24, 2024
High-tech laser fusion energy startup says it's relocating from Austin to the Bay Area
The move comes roughly a year after it planted its U.S. HQ in Austin. (San Francisco Business Times)
October 23, 2024
An Efficient Way to Optimize Laser-Driven Nuclear Fusion
Compared with an experiment using a spherical, plastic target at the National Ignition Facility in California, the team’s optimization method should deliver an implosion that reaches 2 times the density and 3 times the pressure. (Physics Magazine)
October 23, 2024
Exclusive: Laser-driven energy startup moving to Bay Area
A startup developing laser fusion as a clean energy alternative is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Austin, Texas, to the Bay Area, Axios has learned. (Axios)
October 23, 2024
Colorado State University launches new laser facility
The ATLAS Facility builds on the major 2022 breakthrough at the US government’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), where a net energy gain in a fusion reaction was achieved for the first time. (DevX)
October 20, 2024
Opinion: Fusion energy a technological triumph
The recent “breakthrough” announced at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory – while exciting – represents just the tip of the iceberg. (Sask Today)
October 19, 2024
32 physics experiments that changed the world
In 2022, scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California used the world’s most powerful laser to achieve something physicists have been dreaming about for nearly a century: the ignition of a pellet of fuel by nuclear fusion. (Todays Chronic)
October 18, 2024
Marvel Fusion breaks ground on $150M laser facility in Colorado
German startup Marvel Fusion and Colorado State University have broken ground on a $150M laser facility in a bid to commercialise fusion energy. (The Next Web)
October 16, 2024
How artificial intelligence is powering the fusion revolution
At the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, scientists harness AI to bring fusion research into sharper focus. (University of Rochester News Center)
October 11, 2024
Startup Zap Energy's Fusion Reactor Could Revolutionize Power Production
Scientists have been pursuing the idea for decades, but it’s really difficult. Only recently was an amazing success achieved at the National Ignition Facility in the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. (Inc. Magazine)
October 11, 2024
Employing generative AI to optimize fusion experiments
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a method to induce nuclear fusion by focusing powerful lasers on a hydrogen target. In 2022, an ICF experiment at the National Ignition Facility successfully achieved ignition, but the process is still far from producing a net gain of energy. (Scilights)
October 11, 2024
The US’s New Nuclear Weapons, Mysterious Fogbanks And Inertial Confinement Fusion
The research at the Nuclear Ignition Facility (NIF) over at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is directly related to these thermonuclear weapons, as they are based around inertial confinement fusion (ICF), which is what the NIF is set up for to study, including the role of aerogel. (Hackaday)
October 10, 2024
Lab Makes Progress On Fusion
The scientists at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory recently undertook another test of its fusion ignition technology. The lab’s most recent ignition experiment in September didn’t yield the energy output of previous tests, but it still represents a development that continues to push forward a cutting-edge field. (The Independent)
October 10, 2024
Photonics21 Study Spotlights Fusion Energy Markets
Titled “Photonics for the Energy Production Market: Focus on Fusion Energy,” and assembled by the France-based, photonics-focused market-research firm Tematys, the report seeks to make the case that, whatever path the world might ultimately take toward sustainable fusion energy, photonics will be an essential technology for getting there. (Optics & Photonics News)
October 10, 2024
Meet David Farley, Candidate For Livermore City Council District 3
Patch reached out to all candidates for running for Livermore mayor and city council with identical questions. Here are the responses from David Farley, a candidate for Livermore's City Council District 3. (Patch)
October 9, 2024
Zap Energy shows off its new fusion power prototype, Century
For fusion power aficionados, hitting “breakeven” is something of a Holy Grail: the point at which a fusion reaction produces more power than was required to ignite it. Only one scientific experiment, at the National Ignition Facility, has accomplished that feat, and it took over a decade of tweaking the system to achieve the monumental result. (TechCrunch)
October 9, 2024
Zap Energy confirms $130M round, shares progress on its demo power plant system
Fusion company Zap Energy today shared news on progress with its power plant system demo and gave details on the investors of its $130 million round, which GeekWire first reported in July. (GeekWire)
October 9, 2024
Unraveling the Nuclear Fusion Confusion
At the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, a significant advancement in fusion ignition was achieved in December 2022 using 192 lasers concentrated on a minuscule gold cylinder consisting of a diamond capsule loaded with deuterium and tritium. (Real Clear Energy)
October 8, 2024
UC San Diego Launches Fusion Engineering Institute
The University of California San Diego has launched a new engineering institute led by the Jacobs School of Engineering focused on making sure humanity’s recent advances in fusion science translate into safe, abundant and affordable clean energy for California, the nation and the world. (UC San Diego Today)
October 8, 2024
UK to produce the most powerful energy ever: This laser will be a quintillion times brighter than the sun
The Vulcan 20-20 laser is expected to give rise to even more powerful lasers in the future. Recently, researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility in California were successful at utilizing lasers to achieve a net gain in energy for a second time. (The Diary 24)
October 2, 2024
Weirdly, mayo can help study conditions ripe for nuclear fusion
Mayonnaise is useful for smearing on sandwiches and prepping potato salads. But scientists are now using it to study nuclear fusion. (Science News Explores)
October 1, 2024
Acceleron Fusion has raised $15M to take another stab at cold fusion, filing reveals
The fusion sector recently has been showered with interest from investors, who no doubt have been encouraged by the breakthrough experiment at the National Ignition Facility two years ago, which proved that a controlled fusion reaction could generate more power than was required to kick it off. (TechCrunch)
October 1, 2024
Marvel backed for femtosecond fusion in €63M round
Germany-headquartered Marvel Fusion, which is aiming to develop a commercial laser fusion process for energy generation, says it has raised a further €62.8 million in a series B round of venture finance. (Optics & Lasers Europe)
October 1, 2024
Germany-Based Marvel Lands €62 Million In Bid To Prove Laser Technology
Marvel Fusion is one of several companies pursuing what is known as inertial confinement fusion. It is the same basic approach used at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a US Department of Energy laboratory that proved in 2022 that controlled fusion reactions could generate more power than it took to ignite them. (NucNet)
September 30, 2024
SPIE Industry Summit Spotlights Policy Priorities, Business Development
In a session looking at recent technology progress at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), Tayyab Suratwala, program director for optics and materials science & technology at the NIF and Photon Science Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), identified laser damage as one the most active areas of current investigation. (Photonics Spectra)
September 26, 2024
Zap Energy investors in recent $130M round included Soros Fund and Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective
Investors have grown bullish as recent advancements, including a 2022 breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility, have suggested that commercial-scale demonstrations might finally be achievable in ten years or less. (TechCrunch)
September 25, 2024
Nuclear Fusion Is Unlimited Clean Power. So When Can We Have It?
Scientists have been trying to understand — and mimic — the way the sun produces energy for centuries. But recreating nuclear fusion on Earth presents an array of technical challenges. (Bloomberg)
September 25, 2024
Marvel Fusion lands $70M for laser-powered fusion bet
Marvel Fusion is one of several companies pursuing what’s known as inertial confinement fusion. It’s the same basic approach used at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a Department of Energy lab that proved in 2022 that controlled fusion reactions could generate more power than it took to ignite them. (TechCrunch)
September 25, 2024
Longview-LLNL partner on fusion modelling
US-based Longview Fusion Energy Systems and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have entered into a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) to develop a comprehensive performance and economic model tailored to optimise the Longview fusion power plant designs. (Nuclear Engineering International)
September 23, 2024
This is Climate Summit: The Global Stakes of the New Climate Era
CEO & co-founder of Fervo Energy Tim Latimer, CEO & co-founder of Form Energy Mateo Jaramillo and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory director Kimberly Budil join Washington Post Live to speak about the groundbreaking research and breakthroughs that could usher in a new energy era in North America and beyond. (Washington Post Live)
September 20, 2024
The untold history behind fusion ignition
Personal anecdotes and technical details enliven the full story of the decades-long effort that lead to the first demonstration of fusion ignition. (AIP Scilights)
September 19, 2024
The US led on nuclear fusion for decades. Now China is in position to win the race
US companies and industry experts are worried America is losing its decades-long lead in the race to master this near-limitless form of clean energy, as new fusion companies sprout across China, and Beijing outspends DC. (CNN)
September 16, 2024
Manchin to hold hearing on fusion energy’s potential
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing this week to examine the current state of fusion technology and commercialization efforts. (E&E News by Politico)
September 15, 2024
Climate change and the case for nuclear fusion
Right around the time this obsession started, my sixth-grade science teacher, Mr. Lalazarian, assigned the class to do a report on some new science event. That is when I read about the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s great success on nuclear fusion. (Los Angeles Times)
September 14, 2024
Communist China’s Race for Fusion
What an irony if the private enterprise that wins this race is from the People’s Republic. (The New York Sun)
September 13, 2024
New Tool Sheds Light on Experimental Nuclear Fusion Systems
Nuclear engineering Ph.D. student Nahom Habtemariam is developing computational tools to understand what happens in the chamber of inertial fusion energy systems. (Texas A&M Engineering)
September 12, 2024
Laser and X-ray combo creates star-like conditions inside a hair-thin wire
Extreme conditions prevail inside stars and planets. The pressure reaches millions of bars, and it can be several million degrees hot. Sophisticated methods make it possible to create such states of matter in the laboratory—albeit only for the blink of an eye and in a tiny volume. (Phys.org)
September 10, 2024
Could powerful lasers unlock cheap fusion power?
Deep under the Nevada desert in the 1980s the US conducted secret nuclear weapons research. Among the experiments was an effort to see if nuclear fusion, the reaction which powers the sun, could be sparked on earth in a controlled setting. (BBC)
September 5, 2024
Inside The World's Most Complex Construction Project
It's the world’s most challenging construction project – the largest and most powerful nuclear fusion reactor ever built. (The B1M)
September 3, 2024
Nuclear fusion progressing rapidly, Labour’s approach not yet clear – report
Nuclear fusion has the potential to be a near limitless energy source, but the UK Labour Government has not specified its approach to the technology. (Power Technology)
September 1, 2024
Nuclear Fusion, a Perpetually Distant Dream, Moves Closer to Reality
Generating nearly limitless, clean, carbon-free energy from nuclear fusion—a vision that seems to be perpetually out of reach—has taken major steps in the past several years toward becoming a reality. (Epoch Times)
August 28, 2024
Inside China’s race to lead the world in nuclear fusion
On a cold February morning in Hefei, the snow-blanketed grounds of the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) are unusually quiet. (Nature)
August 25, 2024
Nuclear fusion breakthrough: Is the world on the brink of limitless clean energy?
In December 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US achieved a historic breakthrough by surpassing the ignition threshold. (Interesting Engineering)
August 23, 2024
Fusion Frontier Expands With Z-Pinch and Lasers
Research and investment are pushing nuclear fusion toward becoming a viable energy source in the next decade. (EE Power)
August 20, 2024
The world-saving potential of nuclear fusion just got a huge boost
The goal of limitless clean energy is now clearly on the horizon, thanks to AI accelerating research. (Washington Post)
August 16, 2024
A decades-long journey to ignition
Diagnostics reveal unexpected issues and point the way to successful laboratory ignition and burn. (AIP News)
August 15, 2024
Nuclear fusion: experts expect first power plant in 20 years at the earliest
The experts mention laser fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the USA. (Heise Online)
August 15, 2024
Various techniques for nuclear fusion await breakthrough with radically new ideas or better concepts
Originally published in "Physics of Plasma," the Max Planck Society has briefly and concisely summarized the current status of various nuclear fusion systems. (Notebook Check)
August 14, 2024
Whacky Science: Using Mayonnaise To Study Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Sometimes a paper in a scientific journal pops up that makes you do a triple-take, case in point being a recent paper by [Aren Boyaci] and [Arindam Banerjee] in Physical Review E titled “Transition to plastic regime for Rayleigh-Taylor instability in soft solids.” (Hackaday)
August 14, 2024
New Nuclear Approaches: Fusion, SMRs and more are generating big interest
But the biggest news lately has focused on much larger opportunities—specifically, nuclear fusion. (Electrical Contractor)
August 14, 2024
Laura Berzak Hopkins Appointed to Dual Leadership Role at PPPL
Berzak Hopkins is responsible for more than 100 experiments for the National Ignition Facility during her time with LLNL. (ExecutiveGov)
August 13, 2024
General Atomics R&D team recognized for contributions to NIF’s fusion ignition
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has achieved fusion ignition at least five times, each time by directing its 192 high-powered lasers on a capsule containing a tiny, 2-millimeter target filled with hydrogen fuel. (Nuclear News)
August 13, 2024
How Mayonnaise Could Help Scientists Advance Nuclear Fusion Efforts
In nuclear fusion efforts, recent breakthroughs in the U.S. have encouraged more R&D efforts in America and elsewhere. At the end of 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made history, demonstrating fusion ignition for the first time in a laboratory setting—an achievement six decades in the making. (Zero Hedge)
August 10, 2024
World’s first fusion ignition breakthrough: US firm wins esteemed award
The R&D 100 awards, hailed as the “Nobel Prize” for engineers and innovators, recently recognized General Atomics as the R&D Team of the Year. They were selected because of their 4Pi system that contributed to the world’s first successful controlled fusion ignition. (Interesting Engineering)
August 9, 2024
Researchers Are Using Mayonnaise to Improve Nuclear Fusion Experiments
A team of researchers investigating the strength of capsules that contain fuel for fusion reactions have turned to a surprising ally in their quest for a better material: mayonnaise. (Gizmodo)
August 3, 2024
Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’
The 35-nation Iter project has a groundbreaking aim to create clean and limitless energy but it is turning into the ‘most delayed and cost-inflated science project in history.’ (The Guardian)
August 2, 2024
What Can Solve the Huge Energy Demands of a Future with Abundant AI?
Laser nuclear fusion is a promising possibility. How promising? The Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL) laser facility generated more power from nuclear fusion than the laser energy that was used for the first time in 2022. (The Next Big Future)
August 1, 2024
World’s fastest supercomputer helps create super diamonds
The team is now testing their new information by attempting to synthesize BC8 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s NIF facility, a stadium-sized nuclear fusion facility that uses 192 powerful laser beams to generate temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius and pressures exceeding 100 billion atmospheres. (The Observatorial)
July 30, 2024
City Center Banners Honor Lawrence Livermore Fusion Discovery
Nine 23-foot banners at City Center designed by San Ramon artist and LLNL employee James Wickboldt honor the groundbreaking discovery. (Patch)
July 29, 2024
City Center celebrates Livermore Lab fusion ignition with art installation
An art display dedicated to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s world-renowned fusion ignition achievement is on show at City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon. (DanvilleSanRamon.com)
July 29, 2024
Investment in nuclear fusion: promises and challenges
Nuclear fusion is attracting many investors. But can companies really deliver on their bold promises of timeframes and technology? (Energy News)
July 29, 2024
Nuclear fusion: A century in the making
Scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) of California’s government-funded Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have successfully re-created an energy-gaining (more energy was created than was put in) fusion experiment for the second time. (Meer)
July 26, 2024
If cutting greenhouse emissions is essential then Congress needs to invest more in nuclear fusion
America is all about green energy, or are we? Some 35 miles to the southwest of Manteca could be the key to the world’s future energy supply. (Manteca Bulletin)
July 26, 2024
ORNL: Frontier Simulations Could Help Build a Better Diamond
The team has begun to test their findings by attempting to synthesize BC8 at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility. (HPC Wire)
July 25, 2024
First Light Fusion hosts Japanese government delegation at Oxford HQ
Oxford’s First Light Fusion hosted a delegation from the Japanese government this week as the UK and Japan seek closer collaboration on commercial fusion energy research. (The Business Magazine)
July 24, 2024
Japanese Government minister visits Oxford fusion firm
An Oxford-based fusion research company hosted a delegation from the Japanese Government on Tuesday as the UK and Japan seek closer collaboration on commercial fusion energy research. (Oxford Mail)
July 24, 2024
Japan-UK enhance cooperation on fusion
British inertial fusion energy developer First Light Fusion has hosted a delegation from the Japanese government, headed by State Minister Soichiro Imaeda from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). (World Nuclear News)
July 22, 2024
America—A Country Of Pioneers Who Never Stop Charting New Frontiers
Since World War II, America has driven global innovation, pushed back the frontiers of knowledge, made the scientific breakthroughs, and advanced emerging technologies that propel U.S. leadership in high-tech markets—a tremendous source of American economic, military, and geopolitical power. (Forbes)
July 17, 2024
Tech companies rake in $7.1 billion on quest to harness nuclear fusion as major energy source
A newly released report by the Fusion Industry Association reveals a continued spike in investments and employees, with the sector now boasting more than 4,000 workers globally. (NBC Bay Area)
July 17, 2024
China is beating the U.S. in the race for fusion energy
A high-tech race is underway between the United States and China as both countries chase an elusive and potentially game-changing energy source: nuclear fusion. (Natural News)
July 13, 2024
Inside the US-China Race for Fusion Energy Supremacy
Interest in fusion has surged worldwide, especially after scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved “ignition” in 2022—a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it consumed. (Great Game intelligence)
July 11, 2024
Livermore Valley Open Campus hits collaborative stride
Another win for the lab was utilizing a laser and specialized metal pellets in precise 3-D manufacturing in partnership with G.E. Seurat, headed by former lab researcher James DeMuth, licensed technology developed for the target chamber of the National Ignition Facility. (DanvilleSanRamon.com)
July 10, 2024
The fire that powers the universe: Harnessing inertial fusion energy
It was a laser shot for the ages. By achieving fusion ignition on December 5, 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory proved that recreating the “fire” that fuels the sun and the stars inside a laboratory on Earth was indeed scientifically possible. (Nuclear News)
July 10, 2024
Is China Getting Ahead in the Race for Commercial Nuclear Fusion?
The U.S. and other Western nations have worked for decades on technology that could make nuclear fusion possible and commercially viable. China is looking to get a foot between the door in nuclear fusion research. China's government support for nuclear fusion research is nearly double that of the U.S. (OilPrice.com)
July 8, 2024
China Outspends the U.S. on Fusion in the Race for Energy’s Holy Grail
A high-tech race is under way between the U.S. and China as both countries chase an elusive energy source: fusion. (The Wall Street Journal)
July 8, 2024
ITER delay: what it means for nuclear fusion
The world’s biggest fusion-energy experiment is likely to be beaten to its goals by other projects — but the massive reactor still has value, say scientists. (Nature)
July 8, 2024
China outspends the US on fusion in the race for energy’s holy grail
China wants to dominate commercial fusion, a long-dreamed-of clean energy source that is attracting new investment. (Mint)
July 8, 2024
Hitting the gas at Energy
CIO Ann Dunkin talks FITARA, modernization and the challenge of managing IT in an environment driven by high-performance technology. (Nextgov/FCW)
July 7, 2024
Kyoto Fusioneering looks toward a 'Made in Japan' approach for nuclear fusion
Ever since the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved ignition in a nuclear fusion experiment in December 2022, a new wave of excitement and hype has grown around the energy source, which has long been tipped to help usher in an era of abundant, clean and safe energy. (The Japan Times)
July 5, 2024
Nuclear fusion scientists and stakeholders discuss challenges in its development
Nuclear fusion technology has been touted to provide a “limitless” supply of energy, but there are many challenges to it being utilised on a global, or even national, scale. (New Civil Engineer)
July 2, 2024
Why is ITER valuable for the U.S.?
New fusion performance records continue to be set around the world, including at the National Ignition Facility (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), which demonstrated fusion ignition in 2022 and 2023. (Nuclear Newswire)
July 1, 2024
Huge, Faltering Fusion Reactor Project Finally Completes Its Magnet System
Not to be a wet blanket about fusion—we are getting closer, as demonstrated by the National Ignition Facility’s technological breakeven back in 2022—but there’s still a long way to go. (Gizmodo)
June 29, 2024
The Cold War may be over, but our stalemate on nuclear testing must remain strong
IAnother interesting opportunity has arisen to supplant yield testing with simulations at the National Ignition Facility, though this has not given experts ironclad confidence that tests won’t be deemed necessary someday. (The Hill)
June 28, 2024
Scaling laws show paths for improving nuclear fusion yields
In 2022, using deuterium-tritium capsules imploded in an x-ray oven — or hohlraum — the National Ignition Facility produced the first laboratory nuclear fusion reaction that created more energy than the laser input energy. (AIP)
June 27, 2024
Fusion future: A tale of two nuclear reactions
The success of the inertial confinement reactor of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California suggests that lasers and other machines can be used also for triggering aneutronic fusion reactions, which require higher kinetic energies of the fuel particles—but lead to a more efficient energy extraction process. (Laser Focus World)
June 27, 2024
Nuclear Fusion Pushes to Reach Commercial Power Plant Stage
The quest to develop nuclear fusion—the process that energizes the sun and other stars—as an earth-based power source dates back more than a century when Albert Einstein and other scientists theorized how enormous amounts of energy could be produced when atoms fuse. (Engineering News-Record)
June 27, 2024
Goodfellow secures first US manufacturing footprint with Potomac Photonics acquisition
A leading supplier of advanced materials and metals has completed its first acquisition to give it greater capability and an immediate manufacturing footprint in the US. (Peterborough Telegraph)
June 25, 2024
President Biden to consider bill expediting development of commercial fusion energy
The Fusion Energy Act (S.4151) crossed its final legislative hurdle this week with the approval of the Senate, teeing it up for a possible signature from President Joe Biden this week that would affect federal regulations and the development of commercial fusion energy at large. (Daily Energy Insider)
June 22, 2024
This Energy-Positive Laser Fusion Approach Is Heading Towards Commercialization
Xcimer has raised over $100 million from investors and the US Department of Energy, with the bold objective of providing humanity with limitless renewable energy. (Wonderful Engineering)
June 22, 2024
Startup using lasers to develop commercial-scale fusion power
The quest for scalable nuclear fusion power has been ongoing for decades in labs around the world. So when Conner Galloway and Alexander Valys heard about a new kind of science coming out of California’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) in 2021, they moved quickly. (The Cool Down)
June 20, 2024
Governments urged to do more as ambitious timeline for fusion set at FUSION24 conference
Fusion has garnered something of a reputation in the energy industry for always being 30 years away. However, scientists and engineers from around the world gathered at The Science Museum in London yesterday to be told of ambitious plans to get “fusion electrons on the grid by the 2030s.” (The Chemical Engineer)
June 19, 2024
Fusion Sparks an Energy Revolution
After hitting a power-output milestone, fusion technology is ready to graduate from small-scale lab experiment to full-sized power plant. (Wired)
June 19, 2024
Energy-positive laser fusion approach heads toward commercialization
With the promise of unlimited energy, Xcimer has raised over US$100 million from investors and the US Department of Energy to develop a high-energy laser system that's intended for use in a practical fusion power plant. (New Atlas)
June 19, 2024
Fusion energy bill authored by Senator Padilla awaits Presidential signature to become law
– On Wednesday, California Senator Alex Padilla announced that the Fusion Energy Act successfully passed the U.S. Senate and now awaits the President's signature to become law. (KEYT-TV)
June 17, 2024
Ontario bets on sparking nuclear ‘renaissance’ with new-generation fusion power
A next-generation fusion energy plant could come online in Ontario in as little as five years, marking a major stride forward for a technology long-considered the “holy grail” of the energy transition — and a key potential power source to meet rising provincial electricity demand. (Canada’s National Observer)
June 14, 2024
US DOE Unveils Strategy to Achieve Commercial Fusion
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has released an action plan to realize the commercial-scale deployment of fusion energy. (Rigzone)
June 12, 2024
Xcimer raises $100M to build prototype laser system for inertial fusion
US fusion start-up Xcimer Energy has raised $100 million in Series A financing led by Hedosophia, with participation from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital and Starlight Ventures. (Nuclear Engineering International)
June 11, 2024
US DOE announces new decadal fusion energy strategy
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has marked the two-year anniversary of the Administration’s launch of the Bold Decadal Vision for Commercial Fusion Energy with the release of the DOE Fusion Energy Strategy 2024. (Nuclear Engineering International)
June 10, 2024
New fusion energy strategies and partnerships announced at White House event
Just one week after the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy hosted a summit on domestic nuclear deployment, they filled a room again on June 6 for a livestreamed event cohosted with the Department of Energy to announce a new DOE fusion energy strategy and new public-private partnership programs, and to hear directly from stakeholders—including scientists, private fusion companies, investors, and end users—during panel discussions on fusion science and technology progress and the path to fusion energy commercialization. (Nuclear Newswire)
June 10, 2024
SCHOTT Receives Over €1.3 Million to Advance Nuclear Fusion Research
SCHOTT’s laser glass was a key component of the first fusion ignition, achieved by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in 2022. (Barbour Produce Search)
June 9, 2024
Fusion Startup Xcimer Raises $100M Series A for Laser Prototype
Xcimer Energy Corporation has raised a $100 million Series A round led by Hedosophia with participation from Breakthrough Energy, Lowercarbon Capital, Prelude Ventures, Emerson Collective, Gigascale Capital, and Starlight Ventures. (Energy Central)
June 8, 2024
Scientists Inch Closer to the Holy Grail of Clean Energy
The achievements seen at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the U.S. and other labs around the globe have encouraged companies to invest heavily in the sector. (Oil Price)
June 7, 2024
DOE announces $180M, new strategy to accelerate path to commercial-based fusion energy
The U.S. Department of Energy also announced awards totaling $46 million to eight companies to speed development of private-sector fusion pilots. (Utility Dive)
June 7, 2024
White House hopes $180M will solve science, tech gaps in commercial fusion power
The Biden administration is still chasing its fusion energy dreams, announcing new strategies and some funding — albeit a relatively paltry amount — to iron out kinks in a future fusion pilot plant. (The Register)
June 7, 2024
USA sets roadmap for fusion commercialisation
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released a strategy aimed at accelerating the viability of commercial fusion energy in partnership with the private sector. The department also announced USD180 million to support fusion research at an event in Washington, DC. (World Nuclear News)
June 6, 2024
US Moves to Accelerate Fusion Energy Amid Slow Progress
The Biden administration is stepping up its efforts to support research into fusion energy, saying more financing is needed to meet its bold vision for harnessing the energy of the stars. (Financial Post)
June 6, 2024
Is Fusion’s Future Powered by AI?
Achieving nuclear fusion has been challenging, but advancements in artificial intelligence could offer some hope. (EE Power)
June 5, 2024
Xcimer raises $100 million to invest in inertial fusion laser tech
Xcimer says its laser architecture will produce up to 10 times higher laser energy at 10 times higher efficiency and over 30 times lower cost per joule than the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system that achieved fusion ignition and scientific breakeven in December 2022. (Nuclear Newswire)
June 5, 2024
Xcimer lands $100M to build fusion energy prototype
The idea is to recreate the kind of conditions that have enabled the National Ignition Facility (NIF) system to generate laser fusion with energy gain, but with much less complicated and cheaper optical technology. (Optics.org)
June 5, 2024
LLNL’s National Ignition Facility Achieves Fusion Ignition Milestone with G&H Crystals
This groundbreaking accomplishment was powered by a formidable laser employing G&H’s self-grown KDP and KD*P crystals, integral components within the laser’s Plasma Electrode Pockels Cell (PEPC) and final optics assembly. (Go Photonics)
June 5, 2024
Bill Gates fund backs “Star Wars” fusion tech in bid for limitless power
TBill Gates’ energy innovation fund is among investors to have pumped $100m into a nuclear fusion start-up using ‘Star Wars’ technology in a bid to unlock limitless clean energy. (Recharge)
June 4, 2024
‘Star Wars’ lasers and waterfalls of molten salt: How Xcimer plans to make fusion power happen
Conner Galloway and Alexander Valys have followed developments in nuclear fusion research since they were roommates at MIT some 20 years ago. (Tech Crunch)
June 4, 2024
Nuclear fusion startup Xcimer raises $100M to chase laser-based power
Xcimer Energy has raised $100 million to turn nuclear fusion, the source of the sun’s immense energy, into a viable way to power our planet’s electrical grid. (Canary Media)
June 4, 2024
1 big thing: Laser-driven fusion
Tuesday trivia: In what city did scientists with the National Ignition Facility achieve first fusion ignition and breakeven? (Axios Pro)
May 28, 2024
PS 22 Chorus performs at Liberty Science Center’s Genius Gala
During the event, the center honored three new geniuses: Dr. Andrea “Annie” Kritcher — nuclear physicist and the engineering design lead on the world’s first controlled nuclear fusion reaction, the holy grail of nuclear physics. (Staten Island Advance)
May 27, 2024
Upgrades in place, San Diego’s nuclear fusion facility is back up and running
The DIII-D National Fusion Facility, located on the San Diego campus of General Atomics, is back up and running after completing a series of enhancements in recent months. (Energy Central)
May 23, 2024
Inside the Mind of Swimmer-Philosopher Brandon Fischer Ahead of His 5th U.S. Olympic Trials
Brandon Fischer doesn’t fit the mold of the average U.S. Olympic Trials swimmer. Whereas most would have called their career quits more than a decade ago without financial support, Fischer has continued his while balancing a full-time job as a mechanical technologist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, home of the National Ignition Facility achieving nuclear fusion breakthroughs. (Swim Swam)
May 22, 2024
Liberty Science Center Hosts 12th Annual Genius Gala
The science world came together with the world of philanthropy in Jersey City last night at Liberty Science Center’s sold out 12th Annual Genius Gala, where Dr. Andrea “Annie” Kritcher, Dr. Nicholas Schiff, and Dr. Joseph L. Graves Jr. received the Genius Award, the Center’s highest honor, for their groundbreaking scientific contributions and discoveries. (New Jersey Business Magazine)
May 22, 2024
Liberty Science Center’s 12th Annual Genius Gala honors scientific breakthroughs
2024 awardees include Andrea Kritcher, William Shatner & more. (NJ Biz)
May 22, 2024
3 groundbreaking scientists honored at Liberty Science Center’s Genius Gala
While both the promise and threat of artificial intelligence are dominating the headlines in 2024, last night the Liberty Science Center highlighted how human intelligence is making the world a better place. (NJ.com)
May 21, 2024
William Shatner Among Geniuses Honored At Liberty Science Center Gala
The Jersey City, New Jersey, museum gala also honored: Andrea "Annie" Kritcher, a nuclear physicist who achieved the holy grail of nuclear fusion; Nicholas Schiff, MD, a neurologist using implanted electrodes to reverse effects of traumatic brain injuries; and Joseph Graves, Jr., the first African American to earn a PhD in evolutionary biology. (Forbes)
May 21, 2024
Science for all: Latest class of Geniuses at Liberty Science Center are true inspirations
Andrea Kritcher, Nicholas Schiff and Joseph Graves — this year’s honorees at the prestigious Genius Gala at Liberty Science Center — were recognized Monday night for their leadership and vision within their respective scientific fields and how their research has inspired world-changing innovations. (ROI-NJ.com)
May 17, 2024
World’s Energy Future is Part of Lab’s Mission
The key to the world’s future energy supply is in its infancy stage just 35 miles southwest of Manteca at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (Manteca/Ripon Bulletin)
May 13, 2024
How Do Lasers Work?
We explain how lasers work and all the fascinating ways they’re being used. (Extreme Tech)
May 10, 2024
Japan plays catch-up in igniting nuclear fusion development
Japan hopes to speed the country’s development of nuclear fusion technology, catching up with target time frames put forward by other countries for testing the power source envisioned as crucial for decarbonization. (Nikkei Asia)
May 7, 2024
US private investment fuels race for nuclear fusion
Spurred on by major technological advances and huge private investment, the US nuclear fusion sector could be producing electricity within 10 years, industry players say. (Taipei Times)
May 6, 2024
Fusion Energy Week begins today
Fusion is riding a surge of attention that began in December 2022 when researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility achieved fusion ignition. (Nuclear Newswire)
May 5, 2024
Private Investment Fuels Race For Nuclear Fusion Power In US
Major recent milestones include an experiment by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California in December 2022, in which more energy was released from the fusion than was used to produce it. (Barron’s)
May 3, 2024
Llewellyn King: National Labs are the powerful muscle in America’s arm
On May 1, the stars came out to play. The stars I’m referring to are the directors of five of the Department of Energy’s 17 national laboratories, who shone at a virtual press briefing presented by the U.S. Energy Association. (The Herald-Dispatch)
May 2, 2024
LLNL Releases 2nd Fusion-Based Comic
Explaining nuclear fusion in an entertaining way to both children and adults may seem like a task of superhero proportions, but someone at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) works to accomplish just that. (The Independent)
April 30, 2024
Sun in a Bottle, Q&A with Steven Cowley, Director, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Amid moves to decarbonize the global economy, generating electricity from the nuclear fusion process that powers the sun and stars has remained a long-sought and elusive goal. But it’s an exciting time for fusion as researchers have made significant strides in recent years, Steven Cowley says. (Leader’s Edge)
April 30, 2024
Germany’s PriFUSIO Project to Propel Inertial Fusion Energy Advancements with €18M Funding
The PriFUSIO research project led by the Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen, brings together fusion start-ups, medium-sized companies, large corporations, the Laser Zentrum Hannover, and the Fraunhofer IOF in Jena, creating a diverse collaboration of industry and public research institutions. (Go Photonics)
April 28, 2024
Fusion Future: From Concept to Reality
Although it sounds simple, decades of research have taken place to reach the point where, last year, the fusion reaction finally reached breakeven, where the energy produced by the reaction is equal to or greater than the amount of energy used to create the fusion reaction. (EE Power)
April 26, 2024
Exail Signs LLNL Contract, Partners with Eelume
Exail, a high-tech industrial group specializing in photonics technologies, has signed a contract with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to provide more than 60 dual-stage modulators to the equip the high-fidelity pulse shaping (HiFiPS) system at the National Ignition Facility (NIF)’s master oscillator room.
(Photonics Spectra)
April 25, 2024
LLNL Physicist Tammy Ma Shares Fusion Goals at TED Conference
Livermore’s dreams of bountiful clean energy took to the stage last week at the 2024 Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference in Vancouver, Canada. (The Independent)
April 25, 2024
LLNL Team Accelerates Multi-Physics Simulations with El Capitan Predecessor Systems
A 2D MARBL simulation of the N210808 &ldsquo;Burning Plasma” shot performed at the National Ignition Facility at the onset of ignition. This calculation consists of 19 million high-order quadrature points and ran on El Capitan predecessor system rzAdams (on AMD MI300A GPUs). (HPC Wire)
April 24, 2024
Exail to provide key components for NIF
The order from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), California, USA, is the second key optical component from Exail to enhance the capabilities of the National Ignition Facility NIF. (Wiley Industry News)
April 23, 2024
First Light Fusion co-founder ‘excited’ to take on new role
Chair of First Light Fusion’s board, Bart Markus, said: “With recent scientific progress internally and the significant ‘ignition’ milestone at the National Ignition Facility, First Light is entering its most exciting chapter yet.” (Oxford Mail)
April 23, 2024
Exec shakeup at First Light Fusion as founder moves to science-focused role
Inertial fusion is now poised to enter the phase of commercialisation and energy production with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the US having successfully demonstrated ‘ignition’ in December 2022.
(The Business Magazine)
April 22, 2024
Fusion will beat advanced fission to the grid: Type One Energy CEO
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved “net energy” — a fusion reaction that produces more energy than it consumes — in December 2022, after decades of failed attempts. (Utility Dive)
April 19, 2024
U.S. lawmakers introduce bill aimed at accelerating nuclear fusion
U.S. senators from both parties introduced legislation this week to aimed at accelerating power plants run by nuclear fusion. (Power Engineering)
April 19, 2024
Nuclear Fusion / US Senators Introduce Legislation To Accelerate Development
U.S. senators from both parties introduced legislation on 18 April to accelerate development of nuclear fusion power plants, which they say have the potential to produce abundant clean electricity without harmful side effects like carbon emmissions or long-lived radioactive waste. (NucNet)
April 18, 2024
The Hope and Hype of Fusion Energy, Explained
The biggest advance in fusion came in late 2022, when researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California achieved the first fusion ignition, getting more energy from a fusion reaction than was directly put into it. (The Dispatch)
April 16, 2024
Ignition point: The profitable future of fusion energy
Derided as eternally “25 years into the future”, fusion energy is proving increasingly viable, and an Australian business is among the companies racing for the prize. (Create)
April 14, 2024
Nuclear fusion reactor in South Korea runs at 100 million degrees C for a record-breaking 48 seconds
The record joins others made by competing fusion reactors around the world, including one by the U.S. government-funded National Ignition Facility (NIF), which sparked headlines after the reactor core briefly put out more energy than was put into it. (Space.com)
April 13, 2024
Why are Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, bullish on developing nuclear fusion as a power source?
It wasn’t until December 2022 that the National Ignition Facility announced a breakthrough in that it was the first time a nuclear fusion reaction created a net gain of energy. (Augusta Free Press)
April 12, 2024
The Future of AI will require an energy breakthrough. The answer is a fusion moonshot.
Recent advancements in this field are promising. Lawrence Livermore National Lab has repeatedly broken power generation records, and achieved net energy, an important milestone. (Utility Dive)
April 12, 2024
Young Reporter: The Past/Present/Future of Fusion, Wilfred Newell RGS
The JET facility, in Culham, Oxfordshire, ended experiments in December of 2023. The reason why it’s still so important is that JET was not only a world leader in fusion experiments, but its legacy lives on.
(This is Local London)
April 11, 2024
First Light’s “Electric Gun” Brings Fusion Power Closer
“NIF’s result has revolutionized the way we think of fusion and is one of the biggest milestones towards developing a commercial fusion source, because it proves that the core physics works.” (Worth Magazine)
April 11, 2024
Using Lasers to Create the Power of the Stars on Earth
Armed with “high-energy lasers,” researchers across the globe are on a quest to fuse isotopes of the most abundant element in the universe—hydrogen. Their goal is to generate clean and plentiful energy to fill the growing baseload power gap that renewables like solar and wind just can’t fill.
(American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
April 9, 2024
Proxima Fusion raises $21M to build on its ‘stellarator’ approach to nuclear fusion
The field reached a significant milestone in 2022 when the Department of Energy’s National Ignition Facility managed to bring about a fusion reaction that produced more power than was required to spark a fuel pellet. (TechCrunch)
April 9, 2024
Bill Gates & Jeff Bezos Excited About Promise Of Nuclear Fusion
Nuclear fusion has proven difficult to implement and other energy sources often provide more reliable and consistent energy gains. It wasn’t until December 2022 that the National Ignition Facility announced a breakthrough in that it was the first time a nuclear fusion reaction created a net gain of energy.
(The Environmental Magazine)
April 8, 2024
Nuclear Fusion Is Not A Moonshot But An Attainable Goal
Physicists may remember December 5, 2022, as the day nuclear fusion got its legs and walked for the first time. That’s when the National Ignition Facility produced more energy than it used to drive a fusion reactor—the first time in more than 50 years. (Forbes)
April 5, 2024
New Kind of Fusion Reactor Built at Government Lab
A team of physicists and engineers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory built a twisting fusion reactor known as a stellarator that uses permanent magnets, showcasing a potentially cost-effective way of building the powerful machines. (Gizmodo)
April 5, 2024
The race to create an artificial sun
One approach involves using lasers to simulate conditions inside the sun and simultaneously contain the plasma. Utilising this approach, the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has recently achieved a historic milestone by producing the first-ever positive energy gain. (The Daily Star)
April 4, 2024
First Light Fusion solves engineering challenge for pilot fusion plant design
UK-based First Light Fusion (FLF) says it made progress in solving a key engineering challenges in its ongoing work to design a pilot power plant capable of producing commercial energy from fusion.
(Nuclear Engineering International)
April 3, 2024
A Brief History of the Future: Groundbreaking Clean Energy Technologies
Ari explores an ancient cathedral in Spain and emphasizes the need for “cathedral thinking” — building beautiful things that will last far beyond our own lifetimes. Later, Ari travels to Morocco where a massive solar power plant is supplying renewable energy to a significant portion of the country. (PBS)
April 2, 2024
South Korea sets new world record in nuclear fusion
Scientists in South Korea have achieved a groundbreaking milestone in nuclear fusion technology, setting a new world record by sustaining temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius for an extended period.
(The Times of India)
April 2, 2024
Sam Altman says nuclear fusion could support future AI
Many worry about artificial intelligence’s potential to take over millions of jobs and intellectual properties. Sometimes, people neglect its other troubling issue: its carbon footprint. (Philippine Inquirer)
April 1, 2024
‘Artificial sun’ sets record for time at 100 million degrees in latest advance for nuclear fusion
Scientists in South Korea have announced a new world record for the length of time they sustained temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius — seven times hotter than the sun’s core — during a nuclear fusion experiment, in what they say is an important step forward for this futuristic energy technology. (CNN)
April 1, 2024
Dystopias are so 2020. Meet the new protopias that show a hopeful future
Ari Wallach interviews Andrea Kritcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (NPR)
April 1, 2024
Korean “Artificial Sun” Reactor Sets Record at 100 Million Degrees
South Korean scientists have set a new world record using the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) device, an ‘artificial Sun’ nuclear fusion reactor, in what they say is a major step forward for the tech. (Futurism)
April 1, 2024
Exclusive: Fusion reactor promises limitless energy
Fusion energy has long been hailed as the holy grail because of its potential for limitless amounts of clean energy. But that promise has trailed reality for decades, with billions of dollars in research leading to few breakthroughs. (Yahoo Finance)
March 28, 2024
A boost for fusion power: With new law, Washington state leaders signal support for sector’s next steps
While the reality of affordable fusion energy is still an atom-smashing twinkle in physicists’ eyes, the state of Washington is moving ahead with plans to support the nascent commercial fusion sector. (GeekWire)
March 27, 2024
Longview Fusion Energy Systems Partners with Fluor to Design World’s Commercial Laser Fusion Power Plant
This is enabled by the historic breakthroughs in fusion energy gain at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility (NIF). Longview is the only fusion energy company using this proven approach. (GoPhotonics)
March 26, 2024
Inside the world’s first reactor that will power Earth using the same nuclear reactions as the Sun
In the heart of Provence, some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet are setting the stage for what is being called the world’s largest and most ambitious science experiment. (Euronews)
March 25, 2024
Research Project Will Revamp Fusion Analysis Method
A research project undertaken by the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding (CASUS) at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden Rossendorf (HZDR) aims to overhaul an analytical tool used to evaluate laser fusion. (Photonics Spectra)
March 22, 2024
Diamond Is About to Be Dethroned As the Hardest Material Ever
A quantum leap in material science may soon make ultra-hard carbon a tangible reality. (Popular Mechanics)
March 21, 2024
Nuclear fusion backers meet in U.S. as competition with China looms
Fusion built momentum last year when scientists at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California using lasers repeated a fusion breakthrough. (The Japan Times)
March 21, 2024
Setting a laser like sight on a path to practical fusion
By collaborating with leading research facilities such as the European XFEL and the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the USA, the ROLF project seeks to deepen our understanding of WDM behavior under extreme conditions. (Energy Daily)
March 20, 2024
Nuclear fusion backers meet in US capital as competition with China looms
Leaders in the emerging Western nuclear fusion industry are convening in Washington, D.C. this week seeking ways to attract more money for research to avoid falling far behind China in the race to develop and build commercially viable reactors. (Reuters)
March 20, 2024
Western Fusion Industry Leaders Rally in D.C. Amid Rising Competition with China
As the quest for commercial nuclear fusion advances, industry leaders in Washington strategize against global competition and funding challenges. (BNN)
March 19, 2024
Nuclear fusion will power superhuman AI, says ChatGPT boss
The next-generation of artificial intelligence will require a near-limitless source of power, according to the boss of ChatGPT creator OpenAI. (The Independent)
March 19, 2024
Supercomputer Hints at the Existence of ‘Super Diamonds’
It may be possible to grow such super-diamonds in the lab environment. Eventually. However, to achieve this, the team must first explore what’s possible through LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF), the same facility that achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction in 2022, and again last year. (Gizmodo)
March 19, 2024
Diamond Can Be Squeezed Into Something Even Harder. Now We Know How to Do It
The researchers are currently engaged in theory-inspired experiments at the National Ignition Facility to do just that… so watch this space. (Science Alert)
March 15, 2024
Are we on the brink of a nuclear fusion breakthrough?
Nuclear fusion could change the world. It would produce energy at lower costs than we generate it now without greenhouse gas emissions or long-term nuclear waste. (NPR)
March 15, 2024
Longview Partners with Fluor on Laser Fusion
Longview Fusion Energy Systems said it has inked a deal with US engineering and construction firm Fluor to design a commercial laser fusion power plant. (Optics & Photonics News)
March 15, 2024
Greenlight for construction of world’s first fusion power plant
Talks of commercialising fusion in the US were kickstarted in December 2022 when the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research device, National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), finally achieved fusion energy gain. (The Chemical Engineer)
March 13, 2024
Nuclear fusion for the grid is coming much sooner than you think
Commercial nuclear fusion has gone from science fiction to science fact in less than a decade. (The Telegraph)
March 13, 2024
Laser fusion startup Longview signs power plant design contract
Longview Fusion Energy Systems, one of several startup companies working on laser-driven fusion, says it has agreed a deal with the construction firm Fluor to design the world's first commercial laser fusion power plant. (Optics.org)
March 12, 2024
Fluor and Longview start design work on laser fusion plant
The planning for the laser fusion plant was enabled by the breakthroughs in fusion energy gain at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF). (Power Engineering International)
March 12, 2024
Longview Fusion selects Fluor to design laser fusion plant
US-based Longview Fusion Energy Systems has contracted Fluor to design the world’s first commercial laser fusion power plant. This is based on breakthroughs in fusion energy gain at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF). (Nuclear Engineering International)
March 12, 2024
Longview Fusion Energy Advance Toward Fusion Power Plant
The California-based Longview aims to use the same laser-based fusion approach championed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). (Photonics Spectra)
March 11, 2024
Japan laser fusion startup seeks more partners
A Japanese startup with roots in Osaka University has drawn worldwide attention for its advances in laser-powered nuclear fusion, viewed as a next-generation clean energy source. (Nikkei Asia)
March 11, 2024
Fluor to design laser fusion power plant
California-based Longview Fusion Energy Systems has contracted US engineering and construction firm Fluor Corporation to design the world's first commercial laser fusion power plant. (World Nuclear News)
March 9, 2024
Fluor to Design Commercial Laser Fusion Power Plant
Longview Fusion Energy, a firm leveraging the recent fusion breakthrough at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), has secured a contract with engineering, procurement, and construction specialist Fluor to design what could become the world’s first commercial laser fusion power plant. (Power)
March 8, 2024
Nuclear fusion energy: A few more miles to go
Experiments have been successful in achieving a break-even in fusion reaction, charting a path to commercialise the technology. (Deccan Herald)
March 7, 2024
NNSA, nuclear weapons fully funded through compromise bill
The National Nuclear Security Administration stands to see its roughly $24 billion budget request fulfilled under the compromise funding agreement reached by Congress this week. (ExchangeMonitor)
March 5, 2024
Nuclear fusion reaction releases almost twice the energy put in
Scientists have confirmed that a fusion reaction in 2022 reached a historic milestone by unleashing more energy than was put into it — and subsequent trials have produced even better results, they say. (New Scientist)
March 4, 2024
Journal Writing Project — Nuclear Fusion: Powering a Brighter Future
After decades of incremental progress, scientists are finally beginning to synchronize their “atomic orchestras,” paving the way for a future powered by fusion energy. (Fillmore County Journal)
March 4, 2024
Compact nuclear fusion 1 million times more effective than other types, claims Israeli startup
The announcement of a potential nuclear fusion breakthrough from researchers at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in late 2022 sparked great excitement in a planet searching for sustainable energy sources. (Interesting Engineering)
March 1, 2024
AI Unlocks the Door to Limitless Clean Energy Through Nuclear Fusion
Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have provided a significant breakthrough in nuclear fusion technology, potentially paving the way for a future of sustainable, limitless clean energy. (PC Tablet)
February 29, 2024
Photonics West 2024: Notable Trends and an Excursion
After the breakthrough during the December 2022 experiment at the National Ignition Facility, experts and enthusiasts are already thinking about the next laser system for fusion. (Photonics Spectra)
February 29, 2024
Tech companies aim to harness nuclear fusion in ways never been done before
Globally, more than 40 tech companies are experimenting with 20 different methods in hopes of recreating the same type of energy process that has powered the sun and other stars for billions of years. (NBC Bay Area)
February 27, 2024
The Blinding Future of Nuclear Weapons
The National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, meanwhile, uses the world’s most powerful laser to achieve fusion—combining small atoms into larger ones—that releases more energy than scientists pump into it. (The Madras Tribune)
February 27, 2024
Intellectual property fights hobble DOE fusion program
The moonshot U.S. program to accelerate fusion energy has struggled to get started, held up by disputes over the federal government’s control of scientific discoveries by startup companies, according to several people familiar with negotiations. (E&E News)
February 26, 2024
Can You Invest in Nuclear Fusion Stocks?
The Fusion Industry Association says that nuclear fusion companies have attracted US$6.21 billion in funding. (NASDAQ)
February 24, 2024
AI Reinforces Stability in Fusion Energy Production, Reducing Plasma Disruptions
Scientists, including Jaemin Seo, SangKyeun Kim, and Egemen Kolemen, have used artificial intelligence (AI) to control and prevent instability in fusion plasma, a key challenge in fusion energy production. (Quantum Zeitgiest)
February 22, 2024
AI solves nuclear fusion puzzle for near-limitless clean energy
Scientists have used artificial intelligence to overcome a huge challenge for producing near-limitless clean energy with nuclear fusion. (The Independent)
February 21, 2024
TVA’s closed Bull Run plant could get second life harnessing fuel hotter than the sun
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s retired Bull Run Fossil Plant may be out of a job, but a leading fusion company wants to use the site for research that could one day replace coal with the power of the sun. (Knoxville News Sentinal)
February 21, 2024
In a doughnut in Japan, unlocking the power of the Sun
The feat of "net energy gain" was managed in December 2022 at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States, home to the world's largest laser. (Daily Mail)
February 21, 2024
SLAC scientists explain: What is inertial fusion energy?
Following ignition demonstrations at the National Ignition Facility, the prospect of developing a fusion energy source using lasers looks brighter than ever. (SLAC News Center)
February 20, 2024
Fusion’s New Frontier: US Breakthrough and International Collaboration Ignite the Future of Clean Energy
In a historic first, scientists at LLNL successfully achieved nuclear fusion ignition, generating 1.5 times more energy than input. This breakthrough promises a future of clean, limitless energy and highlights the importance of technological innovation. (BNN)
February 16, 2024
Here’s how scientists reached nuclear fusion ‘ignition’ for the first time
One of nuclear fusion’s biggest advances wouldn’t have happened without some impeccable scientific artistry. (ScienceNews)
February 16, 2024
Historic Breakthrough: Nuclear Fusion Ignition Achieved at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
In a historic first, scientists at LLNL successfully achieved nuclear fusion ignition, generating 1.5 times more energy than input. This breakthrough promises a future of clean, limitless energy and highlights the importance of technological innovation. (BNN)
February 15, 2024
Lab Fusion Successes Lure Interns
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) recent fusion breakthroughs have generated a significant jump in interest among young people applying for internships. (The Independent)
February 14, 2024
New Paradigms in Fusion Reactors: Direct Drive
The pursuit of clean and sustainable energy sources has become increasingly urgent in the face of global environmental and energy challenges. (ISP Today)
February 12, 2024
Historic fusion ignition in a lab experiment confirmed
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has published an extensive paper confirming the validity of its 2022 fusion experiment where multiple lasers focused on a sphere of deuterium and tritium to achieve the first fusion ignition in a laboratory. (New Atlas)
February 12, 2024
What the US needs to do to win the fusion race
On Dec. 29, 2023, the People’s Republic of China formed a national fusion energy consortium, uniting its state-led research and industrial efforts into a single entity. As one Chinese fusion entrepreneur put it, nuclear fusion is now a national priority. To beat them, the United States will need to embrace a sense of urgency — and revamp the way it deals with the industry. (The Hill)
February 12, 2024
A new world-energy-record in controlled fusion energy
In a major scientific achievement, European researchers at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility have set a new world energy record of 69 megajoules released in sustained and controlled fusion energy. (eeNews)
February 12, 2024
The Emerging Role of Nuclear Energy in Powering AI
In a ground-breaking development, researchers at the United States National Ignition Facility (NIF) have successfully achieved a nuclear fusion reaction that created more energy than it consumed. (Medriva)
February 12, 2024
Nuclear fusion world record: The science behind the energy technology explained
In a fitting end to the UK’s JET fusion laboratory in Oxford, the lab’s final experiment produced a new world record for power generation. (The European Sting)
February 10, 2024
The Promising but Challenging Future of Fusion Energy
In December 2022, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a significant milestone in fusion research. For the first time, fusion ignition was achieved in a laboratory setting, a feat that resulted in the production of more energy than was delivered to the fusion target. (Medriva)
February 9, 2024
Scientists Have Made a Record-Setting Fusion Energy Breakthrough
A lab in the U.K. has set a new record for the most amount of energy made from a fusion reaction. (Vice)
February 9, 2024
Nuclear fusion world record a promising step toward limitless energy
In its last hurrah before being shut down, a 40-year-old fusion reactor in the UK set a new world record for energy output — bringing the decades-old promise of clean, limitless energy one step closer to reality.
(The Next Web)
February 9, 2024
Scientists in UK set fusion record
Scientists in Britain announced Thursday they had smashed a record for generating fusion energy in the final experiment using the Joint European Torus (JET) machines. (Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha)
February 9, 2024
NIF’s Laser Fusion Experiment’s Energy Gain Passes Peer Review
Back in December of 2022, a team of researchers at the USA’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) announced that they had exceeded ‘scientific breakeven’ with their laser-based inertial confinement fusion (ICF) system. Their work has now been peer-reviewed and passed scrutiny, confirming that the energy put into fusing a small amount of deuterium-tritium fuel resulted in a net gain (Q) of 1.5. (Hackaday)
February 8, 2024
In search of nuclear stewards
A journalist probes the culture and convictions of researchers at US national labs. (Science)
February 8, 2024
Nuclear Fusion Machine Smashes Energy Record, Clean Energy Now ‘Closer Than Ever’
JET’s final nuclear fusion experiment produced a record-breaking 69 megajoules of heat. Nice. (Gizmodo)
February 8, 2024
A Fusion Reaction Generated Twice the Energy It Used for the First Time Ever. Game On
On December 5, 2022, the National Ignition Facility in the U.S. achieved ignition by creating more energy via nuclear fusion than they originally put in. Now, a series of details focuses on how that achievement came to be, and also highlights three subsequent ignition reactions—one of which produced almost double the amount of energy it used. (Popular Mechanics)
February 8, 2024
Scientists in UK set fusion record
London (AFP) — Scientists in Britain announced Thursday they had smashed a record for generating fusion energy in the final experiment using the Joint European Torus (JET) machines. (France 24)
February 8, 2024
The Laser Fusion Experiment Has Hit A Big New Milestone In The U.S.
LScientists have achieved a major in field of fusion energy at the US National Ignition Facility in December 2022. (Wonderful Engineering)
February 7, 2024
UC San Diego is Part of DOE Grant to Establish Inertial Fusion Energy Hub
he U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a four-year, $16 million grant to a multi-institutional team led by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and including the University of California San Diego to establish a national Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) Science & Technology Accelerated Research for Fusion Innovation & Reactor Engineering (STARFIRE) Hub. (UC San Diego Today)
February 7, 2024
Nuclear fusion to upgrade artificial intelligence
A proof-of-concept for the development of nuclear fusion reactors capable of producing near-unlimited energy has finally passed its official peer-review successfully, stated Cointelegraph. (Financial Express)
February 6, 2024
NIF fusion breakeven claims peer reviewed and verified by multiple teams
Five independent teams of researchers have reviewed the work and claims made by a group at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) who announced in December 2022 that they had achieved the first laser-powered fusion reaction that exceeded “scientific breakeven”—in which more energy was produced by a manmade fusion reaction than consumed by the reaction. All five teams have confirmed their claims. (Phys.org)
February 6, 2024
New NIF data yields promise, though road to repeatability remains long
The dream of fusion power inched closer to reality in December 2022, when researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) revealed that a fusion reaction had produced more energy than what was required to kick-start it. (IEEE Spectrum)
February 6, 2024
Fusion fever grips Capitol Hill. Will big funding follow?
As Congress continues to struggle with thorny energy issues like permitting and grid reliability, one groundbreaking source of energy once known for &ldsquo;always being 30 years away” is uniting lawmakers. Fusion is having a moment. (E&E News)
February 6, 2024
Rochester scientists create laser-based ‘spark plug’ for fusion reactions
Scientists from the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) have demonstrated what they call an effective “spark plug” for direct-drive methods of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). (Optics.org)
February 6, 2024
It’s Confirmed! Laser Fusion Experiment Hit a Critical Milestone in Power Generation
In December 2022, scientists at the US National Ignition Facility announced a historic milestone: for the first time, their laser-powered fusion reaction had ‘broken even’, producing more energy than it consumed. (ScienceAlert)
February 6, 2024
Fusion Facility Generates Twice the Power Put Into It
In late 2022, scientists at the National Ignition Facility claimed to have achieved an important fusion energy milestone with their laser-powered reactor: getting more energy out than they put in. Now, the results have cleared the peer review process, confirming the achievement. (Futurism)
February 6, 2024
Scientists unveil new ‘spark plug’ for fusion reactions
The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) has just thrown a spark into the fusion energy race. (Interesting Engineering)
February 6, 2024
Creating a New “Spark Plug” For Maximum Efficiency
The OMEGA laser system, the world’s largest academic laser at less than one-hundredth the energy of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, is housed in LLE, the largest university-based US Department of Energy program. (AZO Quantum)
February 5, 2024
Breakthrough Nuclear Fusion Experiment Confirmed To Have Produced More Energy Than Was Put In
Analysis also saw reheating in the system which could lead to self-sustaining burning plasma. (IFL Science)
February 5, 2024
Nuclear-Fusion Reaction Beats Breakeven
Scientists have now vetted details of the 2022 laser-powered fusion reaction that produced more energy than it consumed. (Physics)
February 5, 2024
Direct approach to laser-powered fusion promises simpler power production
The advance, reported by a team using the Omega laser system at the University of Rochester (U of R), builds on the 2022 breakthrough in which the National Ignition Facility (NIF) sparked a nuclear fusion reaction generating more energy than the laser beams supplied to produce it. (Science)
February 5, 2024
Inertial-Confinement Fusion without Lasers
The recent breakthroughs in laser-based fusion have given a boost to a number of start-up companies—one of which has plans to replace the lasers with a high-speed projectile. (Physics)
February 5, 2024
Nuclear fusion reaction releases almost twice the energy put in
The US National Ignition Facility has achieved even higher energy yields since breaking even for the first time in 2022, but a practical fusion reactor is still a long way off. (New Scientist)
February 5, 2024
OMEGA Laser Experiments Achieve Crucial Burning Plasma State for Fusion
Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in fusion research by producing more fusion energy than the input into the fuel's central hot spot plasma using the OMEGA laser system. (BNN)
February 5, 2024
OMEGA Laser System Achieves Fusion Energy Gain
A significant stride in laser fusion technology has been made with the achievement of a crucial burning plasma state using the OMEGA laser system, potentially advancing the commercial viability of inertial fusion energy. (BNN)
February 5, 2024
Scientists create new ‘spark plug’ for fusion reactions
Techniques developed with the Laboratory for Laser Energetics’ OMEGA laser system hold promise for sparking fusion at larger scales. (University of Rochester News Center)
February 2, 2024
Nuclear Security Lab Directors Spotlight Workforce and Infrastructure Needs
The directors of Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia National Labs spoke this week on pressing challenges and opportunities facing the nuclear security enterprise, appearing together at the annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit in Washington, DC. (FYI: Science Policy News)
February 1, 2024
TRUMPF to Participate in Laser Fusion Energy Research Initiative
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California has been playing a crucial role in contributing to the global frontier in laser-based fusion technology. (Machine Maker)
February 2024
Meet Optica’s 2024 Fellows
Jean-Michel Di Nicola, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. For world-class scientific and engineering contributions in high-energy and high-peak-power laser systems, and key technical leadership at the National Ignition Facility. Peter Jeffrey Wisoff, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. For outstanding technical and program leadership in lasers and inertial confinement fusion in achieving fusion ignition in a laboratory setting. (Optics and Photonics News)
January 30, 2024
Control the lightning — where are we at with nuclear fusion?
Fusion power plants could provide zero-carbon electricity that runs day and night, without care for wind or weather, and the drawbacks of today’s nuclear fission plants, says Tammy Ma, the Lead for the Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) Initiative at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (Cosmos)
January 30, 2024
Inside the world's first reactor that will power Earth using the same nuclear reaction as the Sun
In the heart of Provence, some of the brightest scientific minds on the planet are setting the stage for what is being called the world’s largest and most ambitious science experiment. (Euronews Next)
January 24, 2024
Science on Saturday Lecture Series Begins Jan. 27 at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
Want to learn from expert scientists about the issues making headlines around the world including clean energy solutions? AI art? Natural ways to fight viruses? The story of fusion ignition? Creating quantum technologies and diamonds? (Town Topics)
January 22, 2024
Pioneering nuclear-fusion reactor shuts down: what scientists will learn
But researchers are pushing ahead with designs for the first commercial reactors as excitement about fusion grows. In 2022, JET smashed the record for the amount of energy created through fusion. And the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Livermore, California — the flagship US fusion facility — now routinely generates more energy from a fusion reaction than was put in. (Nature)
January 19, 2024
The Optimist’s Case for How New Technology Can Transform the U.S.
e live in an emerging age of technological signs and wonders. Among the tantalizing possibilities: Genetic medicine to cure Alzheimer’s and cancer. Reusable rockets to build an orbital economy and Moon colony. New kinds of nuclear reactors that are easier to build and could supply nearly limitless clean energy. (Time)
January 19, 2024
NNSA Releases Site Performance Evaluation Reports for fiscal 2023
Adjectival: Excellent: “exceeding almost all of the Objectives and Key Outcomes. LLNS successfully achieved fusion ignition in the National Ignition Facility (NIF), receiving very positive media attention and high accolades from the scientific community worldwide for this historic accomplishment, opening an entirely new energy regime with important implications to stockpile stewardship and clean energy production.” (Exchange Monitor)
January 18, 2024
Revolutionary Breakthroughs in Fusion Research: Understanding Energetic Ions
Super high-velocity projectiles might ultimately beat lasers in the race to achieve practical fusion energy. (BNN Breaking)
January 18, 2024
Shooting the way to fusion energy
Super high-velocity projectiles might ultimately beat lasers in the race to achieve practical fusion energy. (Free Republic)
January 15, 2024
Achieving Fusion Power: A Half-Century Pursuit, When Will It Finally Happen?
Scientists have been working on nuclear fusion power for 75 years, but a practical and sustainable solution is still out of reach, according to the latest information from the research community. (The Press Stories)
January 15, 2024
US Offers Up To $500MM for Advanced Nuclear Fuel Production
The US National Ignition Facility, under the state-run Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has for decades been aiming to achieve a self-sustaining nuclear fusion in which the mass lost in the reaction could be converted into large amounts of energy, a state of energy breakeven called ignition. (Rigzone)
January 14, 2024
We’ve been ‘close’ to achieving fusion power for 50 years. When will it actually happen?
Nuclear fusion power was supposed to be a dream come true. As soon as we discovered that you could smash little atoms together to make bigger atoms and release a small amount of energy in the process, scientists around the world realized the implications of this new bit of physics knowledge. (Space.com)
January 12, 2024
The Sun Is Teaching Us How to Make Our Own Nuclear Fusion
Master of fusion, our home star’s sunquakes could reveal vital information for making our own sustainable energy source. (Popular Mechanics)
January 11, 2024
Lasers, satellites and race cars: OU’s Tomás Díaz de la Rubia loves science
Growing up in Spain, science was a common subject of conversation in Tomás Díaz de la Rubia’s home. His father was and engineer and his grandfather was a chemist. (NonDoc)
January 11, 2024
Titusville-Based Space Initiatives Selected By NASA To Study Potential Interstellar Mission
It sounds like something out of a science-fiction movie: a space mission to visit another star to find out if life or the potential of it exists there. (Talk of Titusville)
January 9, 2024
UK to Venture into Production of Fuel for Small Nuclear Reactors
Earlier the UK signed a pact with the US on collaboration to accelerate the commercial deployment of fusion energy through joint research and regulatory framework formulation. (Rigzone)
January 9, 2024
The good news of 2023 you likely didn't hear much about
Now that you have sobered up from the New Year’s Eve bacchanals and finished with the usual end of year testimonials about how awful the past 12 months have been, how about some good news? (Chowan Herald)
January 8, 2024
Inside the Nuclear Fusion Facility That Changed the World
Shortly after 1 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 5, 2022, Dave Schlossberg, an experimental physicist at National Ignition Facility (NIF), was woken by a phone call. (Time)
January 8, 2024
Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: More Energy Out Than In
In a landmark moment for science, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Livermore, California, has achieved a significant milestone in nuclear fusion. (BNN)
January 7, 2024
CSU to co-lead Dept. of Energy Fusion Hub
The U.S. Department of Energy will fund a newly established Inertial Fusion Science and Technology hub, known as RISE. (eGreenews)
January 6, 2024
Playing with Fire
Science is always trying to stay at least one step ahead of our needs and sometimes ahead of things we likely don’t need at all. Let’s see what 2024 has in store for us. (Northern Express)
January 6, 2024
Hear for nuclear
In the past year, the US National Ignition Facility has made several breakthroughs in nuclear ignition, but scaling the technology to a commercial level could still be decades away. (Carbon Pulse)
January 4, 2024
Clearing the Confusion about Nuclear Fusion
Thus far, the best result comes from the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the USA, reporting a Q=0.70 from its inertial confinement reactor. (Bluesci)
January 4, 2024
Department of Energy fusion energy research reveals declining power of NJ
For more than 70 years, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory had been a leader in the science and engineering behind the development of a clean, safe, and virtually limitless source of energy but that facility appears to have been left out of a massive grant award that is part of President Joe Biden’s goal of demonstrating a proof of concept for several different types of fusion power plants in 10 years. (NJ Today)
January 3, 2024
South Korea’s artificial sun is getting hotter to look more like the real thing
Nuclear fusion research may be making slow but significant progress. In 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory succeeded in producing clean energy through a fusion reaction for the first time.
(News Beezer)
January 3, 2024
Amazing science
But perhaps the most exciting developments in the last year or so have been the advances in technologies to produce clean energy by nuclear fusion, the process by which our sun and other stars produce energy.
(The News International)
January 3, 2024
Groundbreaking achievement: Nuclear fusion ignition successfully replicated multiple times in a historic milestone
Scientists in California fired nearly 200 lasers at a cylinder containing a fuel capsule the size of a peppercorn. (Trend Radars)
January 3, 2024
Nuclear fusion for dummies: The energy breakthrough that could change everything
A major breakthrough has happened at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where scientists have successfully produced a nuclear fusion reaction that resulted in a net energy gain, CNN reports. But what does that actually mean, and why is it so important? (Stars Insider)
January 2, 2024
South Korea’s Artificial Sun Is Cooking 100-Million-Degree Plasma
Research into nuclear fusion has may slow but significant strides; in 2022, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory managed net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time. (Gizmodo)
January 2, 2024
US fusion energy dreams edge closer to reality, Congress permitting
To say 2023 was a big year in the world of fusion research would be an understatement. (The Register)
January 2, 2024
From EVs and Jobs to Space and Fusion: 2023’s Top Market Insights
Is a nuclear energy grid in our future? Check out these promising fusion advancements and how they affect the grid, space, and more. (EE Power)
January 1, 2024
Top 10 People Who Helped Shape Science in 2023
Annie Kritcher is a physicist who helped to achieve the first-ever energy gain. (The Science Times)
January 1, 2024
An Airbus missing in China, a colossal lithium deposit discovered, a controlled nuclear fusion reaction… The ten most read articles of 2023
3 – Historical date for nuclear fusion. December 5, 2022 will go down in the annals of atomic fusion. (dayFREURO)
January 1, 2024
A New Era For Nuclear Fusion
2023 Ignited a New Era For Nuclear Fusion. 2024 Could Be Even Brighter. (Inverse)
