Scientists have confirmed a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion involving the first successful instance of ignition, the point at which a nuclear fusion reaction becomes self-sustaining.
Analysis has confirmed that an experiment conducted in 2021 created a fusion reaction energetic enough to be self-sustaining, which brings fusion one step closer to being useful as a source of energy.
The fusion ignition took place on 8 August 2021 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California, but NIF researchers have not been able to reproduce this landmark achievement since. They have spent the past year analysing the experimental conditions that led to their success 12 months ago.
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