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For first time, fusion reactor creates more energy than it uses


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https://www.sciencealert.com/for-the-first-time-a-fusion-reaction-has-generated-more-energy-than-absorbed-by-the-fuel

 

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PHYSICS.APS.ORG

In August, a fusion reaction at the National Ignition Facility yielded a record 1.3 MJ in fusion energy, releasing, for the first time, more energy than the fuel capsule absorbed.

 

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So-called inertial confinement fusion, the type of fusion approach being studied at NIF, involves rapidly imploding a millimeter-sized capsule filled with a thermonuclear fuel mixture of deuterium and tritium (two forms of hydrogen). The capsule is heated with x rays generated by high-power lasers, turning the capsule into a plasma.

 

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This plasma accelerates inward, like a collapsing star, compressing the capsule’s deuterium-tritium fuel into a tiny sphere with a temperature exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius and a pressure more than 100 billion times greater than that of Earth’s atmosphere. Under such conditions, hydrogen atoms in the fuel fuse, releasing energy.

 

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  • CitizenVectron changed the title to For first time, fusion reactor creates more energy than it uses

If it's giving out more energy than it's using, that means it's receiving that energy from the mirror universe, and we've all seen enough mirror episodes of Star Trek to know that those guys are going to come over here from their side and be seriously pissed. This could lead to Spock having a beard, and we just can't have that!

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36 minutes ago, brucoe said:

If it's giving out more energy than it's using, that means it's receiving that energy from the mirror universe, and we've all seen enough mirror episodes of Star Trek to know that those guys are going to come over here from their side and be seriously pissed. This could lead to Spock having a beard, and we just can't have that!


I feel like in this equation we’re the shitty beard mirror universe.

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9 minutes ago, legend said:

I'll have to read more about this later! A fantastic technological feat!

 

Has there even been an instance of break even prior to this? From what I remember from grad school 10 years ago, the expectation at the time was that going from break even to net output would be a lot easier than reaching break even. 

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6 hours ago, Jason said:

 

Has there even been an instance of break even prior to this? From what I remember from grad school 10 years ago, the expectation at the time was that going from break even to net output would be a lot easier than reaching break even. 

 

No idea! I unfortunately don't keep up enough on the current state of the art on this.

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