Nuclear fusion project takes key step in lab test

AP Science ^ | February 12, 2014 | MALCOLM RITTER

[BenLurkin]

In each trial, 192 laser beams briefly fired into a half-inch-long gold cylinder. The cylinder held a tiny ball that contained the fuel, which was a mix of two kinds of hydrogen, called deuterium and tritium. The energy from the lasers kicked off a process that compressed the ball by an amount akin to squeezing a basketball down to the size of a pea, said Debbie Callahan, an author of the paper.

That created the extremely high pressure and temperatures needed to get the hydrogen atoms to fuse. It was all over in the blink of an eye, with the reaction confined to a space smaller than the width of a human hair.

Nuclear fusion would be worthwhile only if it produces more energy than it uses, and the results were far from that. The hydrogen fuel did emit more energy than it absorbed from the lasers, an experimental goal. But the fuel took in only about 1 percent of all the energy produced by the lasers. So the apparatus is still far short of producing more energy than it requires to operate.

Another key finding was evidence that energy created by the fusion reaction was going back into the remaining fuel, a "bootstrapping" process that is key to boosting the energy output.

...

The sign of bootstrapping is "really a wonderful result," said fusion expert Robert McCrory of the University of Rochester, who was not involved in the research. "There's a lot more that needs to be done" to reach the point where the reaction produces more energy than the lasers deliver, but "this was absolutely necessary."

[bunkerhill7]

They forgot to tell you that these laser fusion reactions give off millions+++ and bizillions of soft neutrons which are good for killing enemy tankers but leaving the tank unharmed.

[Kevmo]

hundreds of $billions spent on the controlled hot fusion (CHF) scam, and basically nothing to show for it. If we had spent 2% of that on cold fusion, we’d have had nuke cars for at least a decade.

-—————————www.mail-archive.com/vortex-l@eskimo.com/msg85822.html———————

[Kevmo]

And many, many years after that, TexasGator will develop some manners.
There is no doubt that solving the fusion problem will be much easier than that.

[Banjoguy]

Actually I spoke to soon. My understanding now is that this is a break through result by team Hurricane, et al, i.e. although ignition was not obtained more energy was generated than was used in fusion fuel.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/laser-fusion-project-takes-one-small-step-toward-energy-leap-n27796

[muleskinner]

Didn’t Sen. Fienstien cut funding to LLNL last year? I’ve heard over 300 engineers/mechanical designer jobs were cut or about to be.