US Scientists Reach ‘Holy Grail’ Net Profit Nuclear Fusion Reaction: Report

Washington Post ^ | December 11, 2022 | Evan Halper and Pranshu Verma

[Coronal]

The Department of Energy plans to announce Tuesday that scientists have been able for the first time to produce a fusion reaction that creates a net energy gain — a major milestone in the decades-long, multibillion dollar quest to develop a technology that provides unlimited, cheap, clean power.

The aim of fusion research is to replicate the nuclear reaction through which energy is created on the sun. It is a “holy grail” of carbon-free power that scientists have been chasing since the 1950s. It is still at least a decade — maybe decades — away from commercial use, but the latest development is likely to be touted by the Biden administration as an affirmation of a massive investment by the government over the years.

Huge amounts of public and private funds have been funneled into the fusion race worldwide, with the aim of ultimately manufacturing fusion machinery that could bring electricity to the grid with no carbon footprint, no radioactive waste and far fewer resources than it takes to harness solar and wind power. Beyond the climate benefits, promoters say it could help bring cheap electricity to impoverished parts of the world.

“To most of us, this was only a matter of time,” said a senior fusion scientist familiar with the work of the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, where the discovery was made.

The development was first reported by the Financial Times on Sunday. It was confirmed by two people familiar with the research, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid getting ahead of the official announcement. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm was slated make the announcement Tuesday at a media event billed as the unveiling of “a major scientific breakthrough.”

[NorthMountain]

You miss the point.

OK. Make your point. Be plain about it. I have no patience for the kind of verbal run-around you're attempting.

The rest of your post is incoherent nonsense of which you should be (but probably aren't) ashamed.

[Red Badger]

I had a huge world map on my wall we got free from some chainsaw display at the local co-op and I plotted the Mercury and Gemini capsule launches on it. Had little cardboard cutouts I made with my SHARP school scissors...........😎

[NorthMountain]

Such fun! Do you stihl have it?

[NorthMountain]

BTW, I have a small scar within half an inch of my left eye. Been there since I was 5.

DO NOT RUN WITH SCISSORS.

[Red Badger]

I’ve never had a reason to!............

[Red Badger]

No, but ISWYDT!!.......................

[NorthMountain]

;’}

[GOPJ]

The Teller-Ulam design used atom bombs to create a temporary bottle. Pressure from the radiation of a fission bomb squashed the fuel from the outside; pressure from the explosion of a fission “spark plug” compressed the fuel from the inside. Caught in between these two nuclear anvils, the deuterium and tritium fuel was crushed, heated, and bottled up for a fraction of a second. The result was a brief burst of fusion energy: an exploding sun. However, the brevity and violence of the explosion made it suitable only as a weapon of war. To harness the power of fusion for peaceful purposes, scientists needed a much subtler kind of bottle.

Teller was hated because according to a friend associate with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (back in 1964) Teller was the ONLY scientist who was NOT compromised by Russians... she also said the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was a commie front organization. And since she was a commie it was believable.

[GOPJ]

The Teller-Ulam design used atom bombs to create a temporary bottle. Pressure from the radiation of a fission bomb squashed the fuel from the outside; pressure from the explosion of a fission “spark plug” compressed the fuel from the inside. Caught in between these two nuclear anvils, the deuterium and tritium fuel was crushed, heated, and bottled up for a fraction of a second. The result was a brief burst of fusion energy: an exploding sun. However, the brevity and violence of the explosion made it suitable only as a weapon of war. To harness the power of fusion for peaceful purposes, scientists needed a much subtler kind of bottle.

Teller was hated because according to a friend associated with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (back in 1964) Teller was the ONLY scientist who was NOT compromised by Russians... she also said the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists was a commie front organization. And since she was a commie it was believable.

[SunkenCiv]

That’s right. Even the author of “Sun in a Bottle” notes that Teller was a better theoretician than the second-gen commie Oppenheimer.

[GOPJ]

The commies I knew in ‘64 hated Teller with a hatred that was beyond all their other hatreds combined. Teller could not be buttered up the way the rest of them were. (appeals to their ‘greatness in understanding ONLY THEY could save the world by making sure both sides had the information therefore insuring ‘peace’.) Teller never wavered. And for years the left mocked Teller as being a second rate scientist. Oppenheimer was the norm - not the exception.