According to a Financial Times report, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory may have produced more energy than was put into a recent experiment, achieving a stunning new high in the fusion reaction.

The publication suggests that scientists “knowing preliminary results from recent experiments” have discussed the results and that analysis is ongoing. A major announcement will be made at LLNL on Tuesday, December 13th. It will be streamed live by the Department of Energy at approximately 7:00 AM PT.

The National Ignition Facility is conducting an “inertial confinement fusion” experiment that looks at nearly 200 lasers fired directly into a small capsule of hydrogen. According to Nathan Garland, a physicist at Griffith University in Australia, the laser creates a plasma around the capsule that eventually initiates implosion. It is under these conditions that nuclear fusion reactions occur.

Nuclear fusion is the reaction that powers our sun and works by crushing two heavy atoms together. This requires extreme pressure and extreme heat, but trying to replicate the conditions in the lab is “very difficult,” Garland said.

The energy released by fusing two atoms is very high and, importantly, no carbon is released. Unlike atomic fission used in nuclear power plants, fusion leaves no radioactive waste and there is no risk of meltdown. In other words, if we can harness the power of fusion, it will revolutionize energyit can generate clean electricity without emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

If the FT report and social media chatter are correct, LLNL scientists could have achieved “increased fusion energy,” denoted by the letter Q. For fusion experiments, when Q > 1, it is a bona fide energy breakthrough, one that scientists have long dreamed of reaching. “If that’s true, it’s certainly a big deal,” said Garland.

But as with all science, it’s good to be careful not to overestimate results that haven’t been fully analyzed yet. In 2013, reports swirled that NIF had achieved just this feat. It wasn’t.

Recently, however, NIF has made great strides toward achieving its goals. August 2021, Researchers reported momentarily replicating the power of the sun in a self-sustaining responseThis is good pedigree and makes us here at CNET Science a little more confident in this rumor.

An LLNL spokesperson told CNET, “We are unable to provide further details or confirmation at this time as the analysis is still ongoing,” and provided a link to the media advisory. “

As a result, there is no infinite supply of energy. The reaction that occurred at NIF may have been a fraction of a second or less. But this is the first step for fusion energy to become a viable, full-fledged technology to power the world. We provide a proof of concept that such a fusion experiment can reach Q > 1.

So while we are always careful to use the word ‘breakthrough’ when reporting on cutting-edge science, especially in the area of ​​fusion energy, it may not be justified here. I feel like there is. Let’s see how it goes.