Wikipedia
Researchers from the Livermore National Laboratory in the United States for the first time were able to obtain 8.6 megajoules of energy from the experiment controlled fusion.
It is noted that at first the researchers managed to increase the output energy to 5.2 megajoules, and then bring it to 8.6 megajoules, which is significantly higher than the of the previous experiment 2022, when the results of the thermonuclear reaction produced 3.15 megajoules with a laser input power of 2.05 megajoules.
The facility at the US National Laser Fusion Facility (NIF) for formation of thermonuclear reactions uses the method of inertial retention. A tiny pellet consisting of diamond-coated deuterium and tritium is placed in a small gold cylinder called a holyraum. The pellet is lowered into a spherical vacuum chamber with a diameter of 10 meters and 192 powerful laser beams are directed at it.
As a result, the cylinder itself vaporizes and emits X-rays that bombard the fuel pellet from the inside. The diamond coating of the pellet turns into plasma, which expands and compresses the fuel pellet. As a result, the deuterium and tritium nuclei fuse and release energy.
However, none of the experiments so far did not achieve the same efficiency to return electrons back to the grid. It is not yet even close to being enough energy to power the entire plant. The first successful reaction required 300 megajoules just to power the lasers. However, the results of recent experiments indicate that controlled fusion is a very real prospect for generating clean energy in the future. Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimate the potential of deuterium and tritium to meet the energy needs of an average person from a developed country for about 60 years.
Another way to perform fusion is to hold the plasma in place with the help of superconducting magnets. According to the most optimistic forecasts, the first commercial fusion reactors will appear no earlier than mid-2050, but progress in this direction is already noticeable.
Source: TechCrunch