The illustration provided by the NIF at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory depicts a target pellet inside a hohlraum capsule with laser beams entering through openings on either end. The beams compress and heat the target to the necessary conditions for nuclear fusion to occur|CC0 1.0
Scientists in the US have achieved “a major scientific breakthrough.” The Department of Energy is expected to announce today the world’s first successful nuclear fusion reaction with a net energy gain.
The energy output was more than the total energy used.
This breakthrough is viewed by many as a step closer to achieving cleaner energy as it doesn’t produce any long-lived radioactive nuclear waste or carbon, unlike nuclear fission.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California is responsible for the breakthrough.
Fusion vs fission
As the name suggests, nuclear fusion is when two or more atoms are combined (fused) to make one big atom. The process releases a tremendous amount of energy in the form of heat. Nuclear fusion reactions power the Sun.
A fission reaction is when the nucleus of one atom is split into two or more smaller nuclei, releasing energy. Currently, we only have nuclear fission reactors.