Nuclear fusion breakthrough

[Brogan]

It's been all over the news in the last couple of days.

A historic breakthrough in nuclear fusion has been achieved.

Or has it ... ?

All of the headlines and text would have you believe that the energy produced from the experiment was greater than what was put in.

On announcing the breakthrough Dr. Marvin Adams deputy administrator for defense programs at the US National Nuclear Security Administration said that the laboratory's lasers had input 2.05 megajoules (MJ) of energy to the target, which had then produced 3.15 MJ of fusion energy output.

Which sounds incredible.
Until you get to the last paragraph in the BBC article.

The experiment was only able to produce enough energy to boil about 15-20 kettles and required billions of dollars of investment. And although the experiment got more energy out than the laser put in, this did not include the energy needed to make the lasers work - which was far greater that the amount of energy the hydrogen produced.

So while there is progress, it's still not going to solve any energy issues.

Breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy announced

US researchers have overcome a major barrier to achieving low-carbon nuclear fusion.

www.bbc.com

 

[cider_and_toast]

So basically, to power a laser to emit 2.05 mega joules you need to use more than 3.15 mega joules.