In the News
2024
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 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)
