In the News

2021

November 17, 2021
The chase for fusion energy
An emerging industry of nuclear-fusion firms promises to have commercial reactors ready in the next decade. (Nature)

November 15, 2021
Fusion’s role in fighting climate change
Excitement about fusion energy is growing. The international ITER project in France, which counts China, India, Europe, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the United States as its partners, is starting to assemble the world’s most powerful fusion experiment. (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)

November 15, 2021
Physicists want to create energy like stars do. These two ways are their best shot
Last week, politicians and leaders met in Glasgow for COP26 to iron out policies that might alleviate the climate crisis. Because the need for energy is fueling that crisis, it might be tempting to look at the burning sun and wonder whether we could do what it does—that is, nuclear fusion. (Popular Science)

November 15, 2021
Physicists want to create energy like stars do. These two ways are their best shot
Last week, politicians and leaders met in Glasgow for COP26 to iron out policies that might alleviate the climate crisis. Because the need for energy is fueling that crisis, it might be tempting to look at the burning sun and wonder whether we could do what it does—that is, nuclear fusion. (Popular Science)

November 12, 2021
Fusion experiment yields record energy
A new milestone in nuclear fusion research was achieved at the largest laser facility in the world. (The Naked Scientists)

November 11, 2021
Chinese scientists strike early gold in race to nuclear fusion power
The race to fusion power heated up in August, when researchers with the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved an energy output eight times greater than ever before. While the output was still lower than the energy input, the breakthrough gave hope as well as added pressure to research teams in other countries, including China. (South China Morning Post)

November 8, 2021
Breakthrough in nuclear fusion. Positive energy balance just around the corner
“This is the most important achievement since the 70s of the last century” — these words commented on their latest achievement scientists from the American National Ignition Facility (NIF), during the ongoing 63rd annual meeting of the APS Plasma Physics Division in Pittsburgh. Their research has just been done published in the Bulletin of the American Physical Society. (Spark Chronicles)

November 8, 2021
Researchers at the brink of fusion ignition at National Ignition Facility
After decades of inertial confinement fusion research, a record yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) from fusion reactions was achieved in the laboratory for the first time during an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) on Aug. 8, 2021. (Phys.org)

November 8, 2021
Unveiling the steady progress toward fusion energy gain
The march towards fusion energy gain, required for commercial fusion energy, is not always visible. Progress occurs in fits and starts through experiments in national laboratories, universities, and more recently at private companies. (Phys.org)

November 8, 2021
Calling all ‘fusioneers’! New US fusion energy website launches
The U.S. Fusion Outreach Team, a grassroots organization in the fusion community focused on reducing barriers to outreach efforts, has launched a new centralized website to engage an expanding workforce, media, educators, and the public in the journey toward a world powered by fusion energy. (Phys.org)

November 8, 2021
New Research Has Brought Us to the Brink of Fusion Ignition
You can almost feel it. We’ve gone decades deep into inertial confinement fusion research, and scientists achieved a record yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ) with lab-based fusion reactions for the first time, according to a recent press release. (Interesting Engineering)

November 3, 2021
Why the promise of nuclear fusion is no longer a pipe dream
Fusion — combining atomic nuclei to release energy — is a clean and safe way to power our homes and industry. This ‘holy grail’ of energy has eluded physicists for decades, but there are signs that a bright future could be on the horizon. (BBC Science Focus Magazine)

October 30, 2021
Livermore Lab Completes Work on Camera Filters for a New Observatory
For much of the past decade, researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been designing optical components for the world’s newest ground-based observatory in northern Chile while their industrial partners have fabricated the components. (The Independent)

October 28, 2021
Giant filters ready for Vera Rubin Telescope camera integration
The last of the enormous optical components for what will become the world’s highest-resolution digital camera has been delivered to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University. (Optics.org)

October 26, 2021
Researchers report argon fluoride laser fusion research findings
The NRL result is particularly important because the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory National Ignition Facility announced Aug. 8 it had performed a laser fusion experiment that yielded almost as much fusion energy as that of the laser beams used to drive the implosion. (Phys.org)

October 26, 2021
Michael Campbell to retire as director of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics
While at LLNL, Campbell was instrumental in establishing the National Ignition Facility and the role of lasers in high-energy-density research in support of NNSA’s stockpile stewardship mission. (University of Rochester)

October 25, 2021
The big solutions — is there a silver bullet for climate change?
The latest experiments, carried out by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, involved focusing a laser light generated by the National Ignition Facility on to a target capsule of fuel about 5mm wide. (inews.co.uk)

October 20, 2021
The commercial drive for laser fusion power
The recent report of a near-ignition fusion reaction at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) is bolstering the aspirations of companies hoping to bring to market laser-driven fusion energy systems. (Physics Today)

October 19, 2021
Rapid Pulse Laser Weapons Could Be The Pentagon’s Future Edge
The United States has been a leader in directed-energy research for decades; the world’s first petawatt laser was developed at the National Ignition Facility, and the Department of Energy sponsored USPL development at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (Breaking Defense)

October 15, 2021
Cerebras CS-1 System Integrated Into Lassen Supercomputer
A new case study carried out by Cerebras in partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) details how the Cerebras CS-1 system was integrated into LLNL’s Lassen supercomputer to enable advances in nuclear fusion simulations. (Unite.AI)

October 2, 2021
Clean energy from the fastest moving objects on earth
“You might want to cover your ears,” a senior engineer at First Light Fusion tells me, as we gaze at a bank of screens that looks like a mini version of a Nasa control room. I reach for some ear plugs. (BBC News)

October 1, 2021
The race is on to replicate the power of the sun with fusion energy
The idea of fusion power has intrigued scientists for nearly 100 years, when they first discovered the process that powers the sun and stars. (CNBC)

October 1, 2021
Moving towards clean energy
On Sunday, August 8, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California scientists hit a milestone in nuclear fusion. (The Stute)

September 28, 2021
University of Nevada, Reno high energy density plasma group gets three grants
Three physicists at the University of Nevada, Reno have received grants for high-energy-density plasma research from the Department of Energy, more awards this year than any other institution in the country under this program. (Nevada Today)

September 28, 2021
‘A-Rod’ makes laser fusion pitch
Focused Energy, a US-German startup firm looking to harness the potential of laser fusion as a source of clean power, says it has closed a $15 million round of seed funding — with former Major League Baseball star Alex Rodriguez among its backers. Founded by a team including the University of Texas, Austin, professor Todd Ditmire and his Technical University Darmstadt counterpart Markus Roth, Focused Energy says it aims to build on recent progress in inertial confinement fusion research at the US National Ignition Facility. (Optics.org)

September 28, 2021
Fusion, Climate, Solar, And Wind
There has recently been an enormous breakthrough in the quest for fusion power, which nonetheless remains distant. Some details of this breakthrough have implications for how one should think about climate and models of it. (Seeking Alpha)

September 26, 2021
A blast into a clean energy future? Scientists tout nuclear fusion breakthrough
With a powerful zap from nearly 200 laser beams that lasted less than 9 billionth of a second, scientists in Northern California believe they have achieved a major milestone in their research to advance nuclear fusion. (San Diego Union-Tribune)

September 23, 2021
Livermore Lab Foundation Sets the Pace for Similar Nonprofits
In its five years of existence, the Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) has not only funded research projects and scholarships for future scientists, but also has become a model for similar charitable organizations taking root across the nation. (The Independent)

September 23, 2021
Carbon-free fusion power shows new viability but has a long way to go
A pair of recent experiments is feeding hopes that nuclear fusion-generated energy could become a dominant and dependable source of clean power over the next decade, at a time when countries are moving swiftly to cut down on fossil fuel emissions. (Washington Examiner)

September 21, 2021
National Ignition Facility Examines the Performance of Various Materials As Fusion Fuel Ablators
Scientists have examined the performance of pure boron, boron carbide, high-density carbon, and boron nitride ablators—the material that surrounds a fusion fuel and couples with the laser or hohlraum radiation in an experiment—in the polar direct drive exploding pusher (PDXP) platform, which is used at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). (SciTechDaily)

September 20, 2021
The Race for Fusion Power Heats Up as Multiple Projects Hit New Milestones
Fusion power could be a silver bullet for the world’s energy and environmental woes, but it’s famously always 30 years away. A recent flurry of announcements are raising hopes that maybe the timeline has started to tighten. (Singularity Hub)

September 16, 2021
Does a future exist with nuclear fusion?
We are so used to it, we take it for granted. We may be conscious of its source, but are passive about the impact… someone else will find a cleaner solution. It comes through our walls and we just plug in. As if by magic, the lights go on, the phone is charged and the blender, well, blends. I’m talking, of course, about electricity. (The National)

September 15, 2021
Thanks to These Mighty Lasers, We’re at the ‘Threshold’ of Nuclear Fusion Ignition
A breakthrough experiment last month at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California has turned up a whopping 1.3 megajoules of energy, or about three percent of the energy contained in one kilogram of crude oil. The work, as outlined in the journal Physical Review E, puts physicists “at the threshold of ignition.” (Popular Mechanics)

September 10, 2021
MIT Scientists Report ‘Major Advance’ In Fusion Energy
This isn’t the only recent breakthrough for fusion energy. On August 9, government scientists working at the National Ignition Facility in California shot 192 lasers at a BB-size capsule and generated 1.3 megajoules of energy, roughly five times the energy that was absorbed. (Vice)

September 10, 2021
How Laser-Initiated Fusion Facilitates Affordable Clean Energy
Laser-based fusion has the potential to generate unlimited energy that is clean and safe. A team of scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has recently made a number of advancements that could pave the way for laser-based fusion to become a reality in the future. (AZOCleantech)

September 9, 2021
Three Technology Breakthroughs Bringing Abundant Clean Energy Within Reach
The quest to make fusion power a reality recently took a massive step forward. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced the results of an experiment with an unprecedented high fusion yield. (TechCrunch)

September 9, 2021
Startup Seeks to Enable Pulsed Fusion
Development of new fusion energy schemes now includes a U.K. effort that uses high-compression inertial confinement to generate power via the fusing of atoms. (EE Times)

September 7, 2021
Three Technology Breakthroughs Bringing Abundant Clean Energy Within Reach
The capitalization of fusion companies has grown by a factor of 10 within the last decade, according to Crunchbase. And with the latest news from the National Ignition Facility (NIF), we are getting closer to reaching the goal of net energy gain by laser-driven fusion. (Forbes)

September 7, 2021
Could Canada’s promising new fusion energy reactor technology work in space?
There’s renewed interest in fusion energy in the wake of the successful release of over 1.3 megajoules of energy at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). NIF has been attempting to achieve successful fusion ignition by bombarding pellets with nearly 200 high-powered lasers within their Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) research device. (SpaceQ)

September 2, 2021
Physicists Just Broke the Laser-Fusion Record, Generating 700 Times the US Energy Grid
Thermonuclear weapons may be dangerous, but they’re also a mystery. This is why physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary laser facility broke their own world record earlier this month when they generated more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power. (Interesting Engineering)

September 2, 2021
We are not facing the Apocalypse XR, your lives have never been more privileged — Comment
As summer ends, it is all too easy to become depressed about the state of the world. Across so many arenas, the news seems bleak, from the Covid pandemic to warnings about climate change. (The Express)

September 1, 2021
Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: What Do New Results Mean for the Future of Energy?
There are two possible ways of achieving nuclear fusion: magnetic confinement and and inertial confinement. On August 8, the US National Ignition Facility achieved a landmark energy production of 1.3 megajoules through the inertial approach. While the new breakthrough is exciting, it’s worth keeping in mind that fusion will be an energy source for the second part of the century — at the earliest. (The Wire Science)

September 1, 2021
How Laser Fusion Took a Big Step Forward
Nuclear fusion research took a big step forward recently with the stunning announcement by the Department of Energy (DOE) that on August 8, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) — a powerful laser that fills a building the size of three football fields at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory — had fired an intense pulse of light to heat and compress a bit of hydrogen weighing less than a grain of sand. (Real Clear Policy)

September 1, 2021
Researchers achieve record-breaking 10 quadrillion watts of power — fusion
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California used a unique nuclear fusion creation technique at the National Ignition Facility to yield over 10 quadrillion watts of power, a world record. (Element 14)

August 31, 2021
The Future of Harnessing Fusion to Provide Limitless Clean Energy
AZoCleantech speaks to Dr Andrea (Annie) Kritcher of the National Ignition Facility about the team's important fusion breakthrough that could open up the possibility of limitless, clean energy. The US team yielded a record-breaking burst of energy of more than 10 quadrillion watts using a ground-breaking method of creating nuclear fusion. (AZoCleantech)

August 30, 2021
DOE Fusion Advisory Panel Checks In on Strategic Plan
Also on the meeting agenda is an update on U.S. contributions to the international ITER project and a presentation on the National Ignition Facility’s recent breakthrough fusion experiment. (FYI: Science Policy News from AIP)

August 30, 2021
Fusion Ignition: What Does the NIF’s 1.3 MJ Yield Mean for Fusion Research?
Earlier this month, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced to the world that they had achieved a record 1.3 MJ yield from a fusion experiment at their National Ignition Facility (NIF). Yet what does this mean, exactly? (Hackaday)

August 30, 2021
Fusion Energy Generation Takes a Step Closer to Reality
Renewable energy has come on leaps and bounds over the last two decades. From being promising technologies that generated dribs and drabs of electricity to becoming a major part of our power generation capabilities. (Power Systems Design)

August 29, 2021
Nuclear Fusion Ignition: Big Laboratory Breakthrough
The ability to harness fusion — the energy source of our sun and all stars — would be a game-changer for earthly power generation. (Freedom and Safety)

August 28, 2021
The race to give nuclear fusion a role in the climate emergency
On 8 August 2021, a laser-initiated experiment at the United States National Ignition Facility (NIF), based at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, made a significant breakthrough in reproducing the power source of the stars, smashing its own 2018 record for energy released from nuclear fusion reactions 23 times over. (The Guardian)

August 28, 2021
1.21 Gigawatts? 10 Quadrillion Watts Just Went Kaboom in the Most Epic Nuclear Fusion Experiment Ever
Doc Brown might have exclaimed “1.21 gigawatts!” as if his time machine of a DeLorean was the most powerful thing on Earth, but something has beat that by a long shot. (SyFy Wire)

August 28, 2021
The Fusion Revolution
During the summer of 1985, I was a part of an engineering team at Los Alamos National Lab working on the first design of a fusion reactor based on the then very advanced spherical-tokamak (ST) concept. At a group lunch toward the end of the effort, our team leader, Robert Krakowski, reflected philosophically. (National Review)

August 27, 2021
US achieves laser-fusion record: what it means for nuclear-weapons research
Scientists are hopeful that the National Ignition Facility’s recent success will advance understanding of thermonuclear reactions. (Nature)

August 26, 2021
What NIF’s fusion energy breakthrough really means
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has successfully produced 25 times more fusion energy than its previous best record. This is an important development for fusion power technology. However, it is just one small step toward fusion becoming a viable electricity source. We are still a long way away. (Big Think)

August 26, 2021
Nuclear fusion ignition: Big laboratory breakthrough
The ability to harness — the energy source of our sun and all stars — would be a game-changer for earthly power generation. Scientists have been seeking this holy grail of energy research for a century. (EarthSky)

August 25, 2021
Nuclear fusion breakthrough: what do new results mean for the future of ‘infinite’ energy?
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has announced a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion, using powerful lasers to produce 1.3 megajoules of energy — about 3% of the energy contained in 1kg of crude oil. (The Conversation)

August 24, 2021
National Lab Achieves Big Step in Fusion Research
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory created a reaction that produced 70% of the energy necessary to sustain fusion: 1.35 megajoules (MJ). Although this is far less than what a laser fusion power source would require (1.9 MJ), the result is highly encouraging because it is 8× more powerful than what the lab had previously achieved. (EE Times)

August 24, 2021
Scientists just overcame a major hurdle in nuclear fusion research
Fusion could be an ideal source of carbon-free energy — if scientists can overcome the engineering hurdles. (Salon)

August 24, 2021
Why Nuclear Fusion Is Still The Holy Grail Of Clean Energy
Just 100 years ago, when English mathematician and astronomer Arthur Eddington suggested that the stars power themselves through a process of merging atoms to create energy, heat, and light, the idea was an unthinkable novelty. Now, in 2021, we’re getting remarkably close to recreating the process of nuclear fusion here on Earth. (OilPrice.com)

August 24, 2021
The 5 Coolest Things On Earth This Week
For the first time, physicists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California triggered nuclear ignition, a key milestone on the path to controlled nuclear fusion. (GE Reports: The Vanguard)

August 24, 2021
US lab closes in on a key goal of nuclear fusion
Scientists at the National Ignition Facility, a science institute in Livermore, California, believe they are on the verge of achieving a longstanding goal in nuclear fusion research, namely, to create a fusion reaction that generates more energy than is required to maintain it. (Modern Power Systems)

August 23, 2021
NIF achieves breakthrough in laser fusion
America’s National Ignition Facility measured a record of 70% conversion in their laser fusion experiments. For a brief moment the fusion was self-sustaining. A moment that excites people around the globe.
(Laser Focus World)

August 23, 2021
Get Ready for the Nuclear Fusion Revolution
It sounds thoroughly implausible: a technology that could replicate the chemistry of the stars, unleash nearly unlimited clean energy and safely power the world for centuries. (Bloomberg Opinion)

August 23, 2021
Nuclear fusion experiment puts ignition within our grasp
United States researchers appear to have reached a new milestone in nuclear fusion — bringing the dream of near-limitless clean energy closer to fruition. (Freethink)

August 21, 2021
Researchers at threshold of fusion ignition
This month, an experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF), USA, made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3MJ. (Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining)

August 20, 2021
US Scientists Hail ‘Historic’ Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion: What This Means in Quest for Clean Energy
Researchers conducting an experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF), earlier this month, have, reportedly, taken a significant step towards realising nuclear fusion and, with it, a path to a clean energy future. (Times Now Digital)

August 20, 2021
FY22 Budget Outlook: National Nuclear Security Administration
NIF reported this week that it recently produced a fusion reaction that generated 1.3 megajoules of energy from 1.9 megajoules of input laser energy, or about 70% of the threshold for achieving ignition. The experiment substantially exceeded expectations, as the facility’s previous record was 170 kilojoules, though NIF has yet to reproduce the latest results. (FYI: Science Policy News from AIP)

August 19, 2021
Michio Kaku calls nuclear fusion test at national lab ‘giant step toward the holy grail of energy research’
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku lauded a recent nuclear fusion experiment at LLNL. “This is a giant step toward the holy grail of energy research,” said Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at the City College and City University of New York. “To hit break-even, to extract more energy than you put in, and this could eventually become a game-changer.” (CNBC)

August 19, 2021
Laser fusion experiment nears crucial break even point in energy generation
Scientists working with the world’s most powerful laser say that they are closing in on the holy grail of nuclear research: raising the temperature and pressure of matter so high that it starts producing more energy than it takes to put it in that state. (The Globe and Mail)

August 19, 2021
Humans just generated nuclear energy akin to a star
A recent nuclear fusion experiment puts physicists one step closer to achieving ‘ignition,’ a promising development for new clean energy. (Popular Science)

August 19, 2021
The Times view on clean energy: Fusion Power
A scientific advance has moved the world closer to abundant nuclear energy without the radioactive waste.
(The Times)

August 19, 2021
Researchers produce a 10-quadrillion watt fusion power burst
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have reached a milestone in their fusion experiments. (Slash Gear)

August 19, 2021
Fusion breakthrough offers hope for clean energy source
Nuclear scientists using a bank of lasers the size of three football fields have generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for a clean energy source. (The Standard)

August 19, 2021
Nuclear scientists hail US fusion breakthrough
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields said Tuesday they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.
(The Jakarta Post)

August 19, 2021
Nuclear scientists hail US leap in fusion energy
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields said on Tuesday they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.
(The Straits Times)

August 19, 2021
US lab stands on threshold of key nuclear fusion goal
A US science institute is on the verge of achieving a longstanding goal in nuclear fusion research. The National Ignition Facility uses a powerful laser to heat and compress hydrogen fuel, initiating fusion. (Alsiasi)

August 19, 2021
Breakthrough: Laser-Powered Fusion Experiment Nears ‘Ignition’
An experiment at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility appears to have approached fusion ignition as it recreated the extreme temperatures and pressures at the heart of the sun for a tiny fraction of a second. (Power Magazine)

August 19, 2021
The Researchers Started Fusion Reactions Using a Giant Laser
Using the world’s most powerful laser, researchers at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, have succeeded in merging the tiny atomic nucleus into one and releasing it. (Swords Today)

August 18, 2021
Fusion experiment ignites big boost toward an energy revolution
For an almost imperceptible fraction of a second on Aug. 8, massive lasers at a government facility in Northern California re-created the power of the sun in a tiny hot spot no wider than a human hair. The result is a significant step forward in the pursuit of nuclear fusion, a long-sought-after panacea for many energy and environmental challenges. (CNET)

August 18, 2021
Scientists hail breakthrough in nuclear fusion as most significant in 50 years
Scientists hailed a breakthrough yesterday that may move the world closer to the dream of near-limitless clean energy through nuclear fusion. (The Times)

August 18, 2021
A step closer to the ‘holy grail’ of nuclear fusion
Nuclear fusion could be a step closer to reality after scientists focused lasers the size of three football fields onto a tiny peppercorn-sized spot to create a ‘mega blast of energy’. (Daily Mail)

August 18, 2021
US lab reports it is on the cusp of major nuclear fusion breakthrough
An experiment conducted earlier this month saw a small pellet of hydrogen isotopes heated to produce "more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power for 100 trillionths of a second", according to the US National Ignition Facility. (Sky News)

August 18, 2021
US boffins: We’re close to fusion ignition in the lab—as seen in stars and thermonuclear weapons
The US government’s nuclear physicists say they are close to achieving fusion ignition—the point at which a fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining—in the lab by compressing matter with lasers. (The Register)

August 18, 2021
Laser-powered fusion energy inches closer to reality
Scientists have just edged closer to a fusion energy system that doesn't lean on magnetic field-based tokamak reactors or twisty stellarators. (Engadget)

August 18, 2021
Government Scientists Have Made a Fusion Energy Breakthrough
A recent experiment at the National Ignition Facility produced 1.3 megajoules of nuclear fusion energy, twice as much as expected. (Vice)

August 18, 2021
With a powerful laser blast, scientists near a nuclear fusion milestone
A fusion experiment at the world’s biggest laser facility released 1.3 million joules of energy, coming close to a break-even point known as ignition, where fusion begins to release more energy than required to detonate it. (Science News)

August 18, 2021
Major Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Achieved In The US
August 8 was a momentous day for nuclear fusion in the US, as an experiment at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made a leap towards the threshold of “ignition” of inertial confinement fusion. (IFL Science)

August 18, 2021
NIF Lab Closes in on Goal of Near-Limitless Nuclear Energy
The National Ignition Facility has recorded record nuclear fusion yield as it strives to reach the goal of near-limitless clean energy production. (Energy Digital)

August 18, 2021
Scientists Are On the Edge of a Fusion Power Breakthrough
Fusion energy — to many, the holy grail of sustainable energy — is on the edge of its next breakthrough. (Futurism)

August 18, 2021
Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Could Unlock Energy Source
Are we one step closer to harnessing the power of nuclear fusion? We very may well be. Scientists at National Ignition Facility (NIF), operated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, have had a nuclear fusion breakthrough. (Nerdist)

August 18, 2021
Scientists one step closer to fusion energy as US lab hits new milestone
A US experiment generated more than 1.3 megajoules of fusion energy, representing a leap forward in realising the crucial moment of ignition. (Silicon Republic)

August 18, 2021
Nuclear Scientists Applaud Fusion Energy Breakthrough
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields have successfully generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.
(Chemical Industry Digest)

August 18, 2021
Nuclear Fusion / US National Ignition Facility Experiment Puts Researchers At Threshold Of Key Ignition Goal
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football pitches said they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source. (NucNet)

August 18, 2021
Scientists Fired Powerful Lasers At A Target And Neared Fusion Ignition
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has made a significant scientific breakthrough in nuclear fusion after they used giant lasers to produce 1.3 megajoules of energy. (Screen Rant)

August 18, 2021
Explained: Nuclear fusion and the recent breakthrough
On Tuesday, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced that an experiment carried out in its National Ignition Facility has made a breakthrough in nuclear fusion research. (The Indian Express)

August 18, 2021
Nuclear scientists in the US hail a fusion breakthrough
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields on Tuesday said that they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new energy source.
(Taipei Times)

August 18, 2021
A Crucial Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough Has Occurred!
Physicists in the United States announced that they had made a historic breakthrough, revealing nuclear fusion energy. Here are the details of the study. (WMAL)

August 18, 2021
National Ignition Facility heralds ‘significant step’ towards fusion break-even target
Scientists at the $3.5bn National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California say they have come a step closer to their ultimate goal of realizing “ignition”, at which fusion reactions generate at least as much energy as its lasers put in. (Physics World)

August 18, 2021
Physicists Say We’re Officially at the “Threshold of Nuclear Fusion Ignition”
Researchers just passed a major milestone, one they’re calling “a Wright Brothers moment.”
(Interesting Engineering)

August 18, 2021
U.S. Scientists Make Breakthrough In Nuclear Fusion
U.S. scientists are at the threshold of fusion ignition after achieving a large amount of energy in an experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the LLNL said in a new statement.
(Oil Price.com)

August 18, 2021
Fusion experiment breaks record, blasts out 10 quadrillion watts of energy
Scientists used an unconventional method of creating nuclear fusion to yield a record-breaking burst of energy of more than 10 quadrillion watts, by firing intense beams of light from the world's largest lasers at a tiny pellet of hydrogen. (Live Science)

August 17, 2021
Laser Fusion Experiment Unleashes an Energetic Burst of Optimism
Scientists have come tantalizingly close to reproducing the power of the sun—albeit only in a speck of hydrogen for a fraction of a second. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory reported on Tuesday that by using 192 gigantic lasers to annihilate a pellet of hydrogen, they were able to ignite a burst of more than 10 quadrillion watts of fusion power—energy released when hydrogen atoms are fused into helium, the same process that occurs within stars. (The New York Times)

August 17, 2021
A national lab just achieved a ‘Wright Brothers moment’ in nuclear fusion
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory announced a key achievement in fusion research on Tuesday. Fusion, the lesser known and opposite reaction to nuclear fission, is when two atoms slam together to form a heavier atom and release energy. It is the way the sun makes energy. (CNBC)

August 17, 2021
US lab stands on threshold of key nuclear fusion goal
A US science institute is on the verge of achieving a longstanding goal in nuclear fusion research. The National Ignition Facility uses a powerful laser to heat and compress hydrogen fuel, initiating fusion. (BBC News)

August 17, 2021
Nuclear scientists hail US fusion breakthrough
Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields said Tuesday they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source. (AFP)

August 17, 2021
Lawrence Livermore claims a milestone in laser fusion
A tiny pellet of deuterium and tritium released more energy than it absorbed from the National Ignition Facility’s bank of 192 lasers. (Physics Today)

August 17, 2021
With explosive new result, laser-powered fusion effort nears ‘ignition’
More than a decade ago, the world’s most energetic laser started to unleash its blasts on tiny capsules of hydrogen isotopes, with managers promising it would soon demonstrate a route to limitless fusion energy. Now, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has taken a major leap toward that goal. (Science)

August 17, 2021
Enormous lasers have created the highest-pressure conditions on Earth
A colossal laser system has created some of the most extreme conditions on Earth, bringing us one step closer to useful nuclear fusion power that would produce no hazardous waste. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California have been attempting to jumpstart nuclear fusion in the laboratory for decades, and now they are closer than ever. (New Scientist)

August 17, 2021
High-powered laser closes in on nuclear fusion ignition
The field of nuclear fusion has seen some exciting advances of late, with scientists demonstrating how fuels can be heated to the temperatures needed for the necessary reactions to take place. (New Atlas)

August 17, 2021
Major nuclear fusion milestone reached as ‘ignition’ triggered in lab
A new experiment appears to have triggered ignition for the first time, at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US, recreating the extreme temperatures and pressures found at the heart of the Sun. (Imperial College London)

August 17, 2021
Lawrence Livermore claims a milestone in laser fusion
An experiment at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) has triggered ignition for the first time. Ignition is the process that amplifies energy output from nuclear fusion and that could provide an avenue for clean energy, as well as provide answers to many long-held questions in physics. (Photonics Media)

August 16, 2021
Lawrence Livermore National Lab Advances Effort to Generate Substantial Fusion Energy with NIF Laser
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have achieved a major advance in the long effort to generate substantial bursts of fusion energy by compressing and heating targets with beams from its huge laser, the National Ignition Facility (NIF). (The Independent)

August 16, 2021
Can start-ups fast-track fusion energy?
To help the world reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Nick Hawker is betting on nuclear fusion. Co-founder of the start-up First Light Fusion, he says: “We need to be building plants, multiple, in the 2040s. And the first of a kind has to be built in the 2030s. Which means the physics problem has to be solved in the 2020s.” This pressure is the subject of The Star Builders—a book about those trying to harness the phenomenon that powers the Sun, as a source of almost limitless energy. (Nature)

August 3, 2021
Scientists Race to Replicate ‘the Power Source of Stars’ in Climate Fight
The net-zero energy mix of the future will rely not only on renewable resources such as solar and wind but also on technology that allows scientists to “recreate and control the power source of stars,” according to economist and plasma physicist Arthur Turrell. (The Hill)

August 2, 2021
Fusion energy quest hots up at Deakin and HB11 Energy
Fusion energy has long been considered as a way forward for decarbonising energy production, but its vast complexity and expense has made experimentation the plaything of rich nations with extremely deep pockets. (AuManufacturing)

July 21, 2021
Massive Machines Are Bringing Giant Exoplanets Down to Earth
Scientists are using football-field-sized lasers, warehouse-sized electromagnets and other immense facilities to reveal the deep secrets of planetary interiors. (Scientific American)

July 21, 2021
PEARC21 Panel: Wafer-Scale-Engine Technology Accelerates Machine Learning, HPC
Early use of Cerebras’ CS-1 server and wafer-scale engine (WSE) has demonstrated promising acceleration of machine-learning algorithms, according to participants in the Scientific Research Enabled by CS-1 Systems panel, presented at the PEARC21 conference. (HPC Wire)

June 28, 2021
Setting gold and platinum standards where few have gone before
Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories’ Z machine—generator of the world's most powerful electrical pulses—and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility—the planet’s most energetic laser source—in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at pressures so extreme that their atomic structures momentarily distorted like images in a fun-house mirror. (Space Daily)

June 27, 2021
Researchers Develop Precision Scale for Extremely High-Pressure Experiments
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and the University of Hyogo in Kobe, Japan, have developed a way to more precisely measure high-pressure compression in the laboratory up to 10 million atmospheres. (The Independent)

June 23, 2021
The race to build a commercial fusion reactor hots up
An old joke about nuclear fusion—that it is 30 years away and always will be—is so well-known that The Economist’s science editor forbids correspondents from repeating it. No one doubts sustained fusion is possible in principle. It powers every star in the universe. Making it work on Earth, though, has proved harder. (The Economist)

June 23, 2021
The race to build a commercial fusion reactor hots up
An old joke about nuclear fusion—that it is 30 years away and always will be—is so well-known that The Economist’s science editor forbids correspondents from repeating it. No one doubts sustained fusion is possible in principle. It powers every star in the universe. Making it work on Earth, though, has proved harder. (The Economist)

June 17, 2021
Is Fusion Moving Closer?
After more than three decades in development, is nuclear fusion technology ready to start delivering on its promises? Advancements have recently been coming thick and fast, and it is becoming clear that the next five to ten years are going to be critical. (Nuclear Engineering International)

June 16, 2021
Virtual Reality Case Study
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is home to the world’s largest and highest-energy laser. The facility is the size of a sports stadium that could fit three football fields. Employees there work on the world’s most precise and reproducible laser beam, which can guide, amplify, reflect and focus 192 laser beams into a target about the size of a pencil eraser in a few billionths of a second. But it was not immune from pandemic-forced changes. (GovLoop)

June 15, 2021
The Materials Scientist Who Studies the Innards of Exoplanets
Out in the vast universe, unknown billions of strange worlds drift around other stars. Many of them are quite unlike anything in our solar system. While astronomers hope to use immense upcoming observatories to get a better look at their outsides, Federica Coppari has been using the world’s largest laser to investigate their insides. (Quanta Magazine)

June 11, 2021
Novel X-Ray Spectrometer Designed to Examine High-Density Energy Plasmas
After nearly a decade of collaboration between the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Ignition Facility (NIF), scientists from DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have built a novel X-ray crystal spectrometer that would be able to provide clear, high-resolution measurements of HED plasmas produced by the NIF. (The Science Times)

June 8, 2021
Scientists create unique instrument to probe the most extreme matter on Earth
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), building on nearly a decade of collaboration with the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the DOE’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), have designed a novel X-ray crystal spectrometer to provide high-resolution measurements of a challenging feature of NIF-produced HED plasmas. (Newswise)

June 3, 2021
Putting the squeeze to Au and Pt
Scientists have studied the behavior of gold and platinum at pressures near 1 terapascal (TPa)—a trillion pascals—several times the pressure at Earth’s center. (Chemical & Engineering News)

May 26, 2021
Aspheric Lenses and Mirrors for Nuclear Research
As the power of laboratory lasers increases, aspheric lenses and mirrors have been pushed to deliver extremely high intensities. (AZO Optics)

May 21, 2021
Physicists Break the Speed of Light Using Plasma in New Experiment
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab and the University of Rochester have seemingly broken the universal speed limit. (WKYC)

May 21, 2021
Physicists Have Broken The Speed of Light With Pulses Inside Hot Plasma
Sailing through the smooth waters of vacuum, a photon of light moves at around 300 thousand kilometers (186 thousand miles) a second. This sets a firm limit on how quickly a whisper of information can travel anywhere in the Universe. (ScienceAlert)

May 13, 2021
Q&A: Lawrence Livermore director Kimberly Budil on the evolving nuclear weapons enterprise
The physicist and Livermore veteran, the first woman to lead the famed facility, addresses the challenges facing the lab’s inertial confinement fusion and warhead modernization programs. (Physics Today)

May 5, 2021
Boosting Inertial-Confinement-Fusion Yield with Magnetized Fuel
Building on a decade of advances in the understanding of neutron production and hot-spot physics, researchers at the National Ignition Facility are pursuing magnetized fusion fuel as a potentially disruptive way to boost the performance of laser-driven implosion. (Physics)

April 28, 2021
UC San Diego engineering professor solves deep earthquake mystery
A University of California San Diego engineering professor has solved one of the biggest mysteries in geophysics: What causes deep-focus earthquakes? (EurekAlert!)

April 8, 2021
With ‘smoke ring’ technology, fusion startup marks steady progress
A private company betting on an innovative fusion technology announced today that its latest device can sustain high temperatures for long reaction times—a major step toward a reactor capable of producing more fusion energy than is consumed by the device. (Science)

March 19, 2021
10 Things About Star Trek Only Movie Fans Know
The real world of science and the science fiction universe of Star Trek collided in Star Trek: Into Darkness, as the warp core in the movie was actually a real-world laser system called Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility, or NIF. (CBR.com)

March 16, 2021
DOE advisory committee releases report in fusion energy
The Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee (FESAC) has released a report that calls for the United States to move more aggressively toward nuclear fusion deployment. (Daily Energy Insider)

March 10, 2021
NSF CAREER Award recipient Thomas White explores the most extreme states of matter in the Universe
Assistant professor of physics receives funding to include undergraduate students in cutting edge physics research. (Nevada Today)

March 5, 2021
Dublin Students Test French Language Skills in Interview with LLNL Scientist
Students in the advanced placement French class at Dublin High School put their skills to the test recently during an interview with Dr. Laurent Divol, a physicist with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
(The Independent)

February 24, 2021
Get ready for Seurat’s Area Printing, a multi-laser, high-speed metal PBF process inspired by NIF
Like CERN, ITER, the ISS and NASA’s rovers, NIF (National Ignition Facility) is a wonder of engineering and one of the largest and most complex machines created by humans. Its purpose is to ignite nuclear fusion, making it produce more energy than it consumes, using multiple high-power lasers. (3D Printing Media Network)

February 8, 2021
Lawrence Livermore National Lab Names Kim Budil Director
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) new director, Kim Budil, will begin her new role March 2. Budil, replacing Bill Goldstein, will serve as the laboratory’s 13th director. She is the first female director in the laboratory’s 69-year history. (Photonics Media)

February 1, 2021
Ph.D. Alumna to Lead Livermore Lab
Kim Budil, Ph.D. ’94, whose career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory spans 34 years, starting as a graduate student and progressing to postdoc after she received her Ph.D. in engineering/applied science from UC Davis, has been named the lab’s 13th director. (UC Davis Magazine)

January 29, 2021
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Names Kim Budil New Director
Kim Budil, a scientist who has worked a variety of leadership positions during a 34-year career at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has been appointed its director, making her the first woman to hold the position. (The Independent)

January 29, 2021
Final FY21 Appropriations: National Nuclear Security Administration
The National Security Administration budget is surging by $3 billion to nearly $20 billion for fiscal year 2021, with most of the increase directed to modernizing the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and associated infrastructure. (American Institute of Physics)

January 28, 2021
Crushing Diamonds With Forces Greater Than Earth’s Core Reveals They Are ‘Metastable’
Diamonds can handle a little pressure. Actually, revise that—diamonds can handle a lot of pressure. In a series of new experiments, scientists have found that diamonds retain their crystal structure at pressures five times higher than that of Earth’s core. (Science Alert)

January 28, 2021
Scientists measured carbon at pressures reaching 2,000 GPa
NIF experiments probe carbon at record pressures. Carbon is one of the most ubiquitous elements. Besides being a building block for all known life, carbon material sits in carbon-rich exoplanets’ interior, hence subject to an intense investigation by scientists. (Tech Explorist)

January 27, 2021
Diamond holds up at pressures more than five times those in Earth’s core
Diamond stands up to a squeeze. Surprisingly, the material’s structure persists even when compressed to 2 trillion pascals, more than five times the pressure in Earth’s core, scientists report January 27 in Nature. (Science News)

January 27, 2021
Diamonds really are forever
Even with the weight of world on its shoulders, diamond resolutely refuses to buckle under the pressure. Thanks to the highest-pressure X-ray diffraction experiments ever reported, researchers have revealed that the structure of diamond remains unchanged at 2 terapascals (TPa)—more than five times the pressure at Earth’s core. (Chemical & Engineering News)

January 27, 2021
New research on carbon cracks open secrets deep inside exoplanets
Measuring carbon at the highest pressures ever achieved in a laboratory, researchers report first model of carbon structures that may make up planets outside the solar system. (University of Rochester Newscenter)

January 15, 2021
LLNL Develops New X-Ray Tool
Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have developed an X-ray source that can be used to determine the temperature in probe experiments under conditions found at the very center of planets. Announced in Applied Physics Letters, the titanium x-ray source will be used to perform fine structure experiments on highly compressed solid-state materials at the National Ignition Facility. (The Independent)

January 7, 2021
Clean, cheap, and limitless—how ‘fusion power’ can meet 10% of the world’s energy needs
Another approach to fusion is ‘inertial confinement,’ where fusion fuel is instantaneously squeezed by a huge force. This can be done using lasers. For example, the US National Ignition Facility uses the world’s most powerful laser to compress fusion fuel inside small pellets. (ThePrint)

January 7, 2021
Illumination at the limits of knowledge
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is a case in point: walking its halls evokes a sense of the technological sublime which is all but visceral. (The Economist)

January 4, 2021
Despite Big Breakthroughs Fusion Power Plants are Still Decades Away
At least 110 countries have pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050. Fusion is potentially a carbon-free bridge to that goal. Fusion is still decades away from viable commercial production, but recent advances in the technology and supporting infrastructure are chipping away at that timetable. (Grit Daily)