DOE Announces Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: What to Know
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday morning that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction, a vaunted goal in humankind’s quest for a reliable, zero-carbon energy source.Successful fusion reactions are nothing new, but the field has struggled with a big problem since its inception: Scientists have not been able to get more power out of a reaction than they had to put in. Now, that has happened.The momentous result from the National Ignition Facility in…