US Department of Energy Plans to Create the First Nuclear Fusion Power Plant After This Week's Major Breakthrough

Scientists have pursued harnessing nuclear fusion power for the past 60 years as a potential source of near-limitless energy, like the Sun. Last Tuesday, December 13, the US Department of Energy confirmed that scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California successfully produced nuclear fusion that released more energy than went into it.

Due to this week's major breakthrough in nuclear energy, the federal agency is planning to build the first nuclear fusion power plant. It is expected that there will be numerous technical breakthroughs to come, which means that more money will be invested in the industry.

Looking Ahead by Building the First Nuclear Fusion Power Plant

Science Times previously reported that researchers at the federal research facility Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) used the world's largest and highest energy laser system to blast light at small capsules of deuterium-tritium fuel. They successfully generated energy out of it more than they had put in, which is the first of its kind in the field of nuclear fusion.

LLNL program director for weapons physics and design Mark Hermann told The New York Times that it is what scientists have been trying to achieve for many decades since the 1950s. The experiment provided proof that it is indeed possible to mimic the Sun's fusion power.

Moreover, E&E News reports that those exciting results are in perfect timing when the US DOE decided on which nuclear fusion developers will receive the $50 million grant to build a 50-megawatt fusion plant. The goal is to enable the first nuclear fusion power plant to operate in the early 2030s, a senior DOE told the news outlet.

It will be the pilot fusion power plant that could push the country to invest in developing technologies that will help realize the dream of having nuclear fusion actors in the power grid line. As of now, it is unclear which among the 15 companies seeking the grant will be awarded the funds.

Nuclear Fusion Needs More Firsts Before It Can Be Distributed Commercially

The need for renewable energy to avoid burning more fossil fuels is immense and this week's major breakthrough is a step closer to achieving a near-limitless power source. However, there is more work to do before scientists could achieve that.

Last year, scientists at LLNL also made another breakthrough after achieving fusion ignition in a controlled environment for the first time, although the energy generated at that time was less than what came out. According to CNBC, the energy gain of that 2021 experiment was 0.73, while this week's experiment was 1.5.

Getting over 1x energy gain shows that fusion can be a net source of energy, which means that this week's breakthrough will be put in history books at the time when scientists were able to produce the first-ever nuclear fusion reaction.

But scientists expect energy gain up to 4x or 5x in the coming years. It needs about 100x energy gain to make a commercial fusion with lasers and to get to that level will require new facilities and new technology developments of component parts. Through optimized targets and the latest-generation laser systems, scientists will be able to show a net energy gain at that level.

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