The US Department of Energy’s nuclear fusion laboratory says there will be a “major scientific breakthrough” announced Tuesday, as media report that scientists have finally surpassed an important milestone for the technology: getting more energy out than was put in.
The US Department of Energy’s nuclear fusion laboratory says there will be a “major scientific breakthrough” announced Tuesday, as media report that scientists have finally surpassed an important milestone for the technology: getting more energy out than was put in.
The announcement has the scientific community abuzz, as nuclear fusion is considered by some to be the energy of the future, particularly as it produces no greenhouse gases, leaves little waste and has no risk of nuclear accidents.
Here is an update on how nuclear fusion works, what projects are underway and estimates on when they could be completed:
Energy of the stars
Fusion differs from fission, the technique currently used in nuclear power plants, by fusing two atomic nuclei instead of splitting one.
In fact, fusion is the process that powers the sun.
Two light hydrogen atoms, when they collide at very high speeds, fuse together into one heavier element, helium, releasing energy in the process.
“Controlling the power source of the stars is the greatest technological challenge humanity has ever undertaken,” tweeted physicist Arthur Turrell, author of “The Star Builders.”
Two distinct methods
Producing fusion reactions on Earth is only possible by heating matter to extremely high temperatures—over 100 million degrees Celsius (180 million Fahrenheit).
