US Scientists Announce Major Advance in Fusion Development
2022-12-14
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1American scientists have announced a "major scientific breakthrough" in the long-sought search for a way to use nuclear fusion to produce energy.
2The announcement came Tuesday during a briefing by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other officials in Washington, D.C.
3Granholm said that, for the first time, a fusion reaction experiment had produced more energy than was required to ignite it.
4Scientists describe such a result as "net energy gain."
5This state has until now been an unreachable goal for the scientists because fusion happens at extremely high temperatures and pressures.
6This makes the process very difficult to control.
7The new result came last week during an experiment carried out by government scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California.
8The lab is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.
9Fusion happens when the nuclei of two atoms are subjected to extreme heat.
10This leads to the formation of a new, larger atom and the release of energy.
11Fusion is the process that fuels stars, including the sun.
12Scientists have long understood how nuclear fusion works.
13Many have tried to repeat the process on Earth.
14The current efforts centered on fusing a pair of hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium.
15The Department of Energy says that the combination releases "much more energy than most fusion reactions." It also requires less heat to do so.
16Some experts have suggested that fusion energy could one day be used to provide limitless, pollution-free power.
17Granholm and other officials said Tuesday that the latest result is a major step forward in helping to create a future source for clean power generation.
18However, they said commercialization of the technology will likely take many years to be fully developed.
19Granholm said the department's ignition success permits scientists for the first time to copy "certain conditions that are found only in the stars and the sun."
20She added that the result is a major step toward "the possibility of zero-carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society."
21The experiments involved aiming nearly 200 lasers at a small capsule that contained fuel.
22When the lasers ignited the fuel, two lighter atoms were joined together to create a denser one.
23This process produced more energy than was required to ignite it, the scientists said.
24The experiment briefly reached "fusion ignition" by generating 3.15 megajoules of energy output.
25This was after the laser targeting the capsule used 2.05 megajoules of energy, the Energy Department said.
26A megajoule is a measurement for energy output.
27Nuclear scientists not involved in the latest result praised the success as a major breakthrough.
28But they noted there is much more science to be done before fusion can develop into a profitable industry.
29Riccardo Betti is a professor at New York's University of Rochester and an expert in laser fusion.
30He compared the latest result to when humans first learned that refining oil into gasoline and igniting it could produce an explosion.
31"You still don't have the engine, and you still don't have the tires," Betti said.
32"You can't say that you have a car."
33Tony Roulstone is a nuclear energy expert at the University of Cambridge in Britain.
34He told Reuters news agency that while interesting, the latest experiment still leaves scientists a long way from turning the process into useful, limitless energy.
35Roulstone said that in order to become commercially successful, a power plant would have to produce enough energy to also power the laser equipment and generate a continuous ignition process.
36I'm Bryan Lynn.
1American scientists have announced a "major scientific breakthrough" in the long-sought search for a way to use nuclear fusion to produce energy. 2The announcement came Tuesday during a briefing by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other officials in Washington, D.C. Granholm said that, for the first time, a fusion reaction experiment had produced more energy than was required to ignite it. 3Scientists describe such a result as "net energy gain." This state has until now been an unreachable goal for the scientists because fusion happens at extremely high temperatures and pressures. This makes the process very difficult to control. 4The new result came last week during an experiment carried out by government scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The lab is part of the U.S. Department of Energy. 5Fusion happens when the nuclei of two atoms are subjected to extreme heat. This leads to the formation of a new, larger atom and the release of energy. Fusion is the process that fuels stars, including the sun. 6Scientists have long understood how nuclear fusion works. Many have tried to repeat the process on Earth. The current efforts centered on fusing a pair of hydrogen isotopes - deuterium and tritium. The Department of Energy says that the combination releases "much more energy than most fusion reactions." It also requires less heat to do so. 7Some experts have suggested that fusion energy could one day be used to provide limitless, pollution-free power. 8Granholm and other officials said Tuesday that the latest result is a major step forward in helping to create a future source for clean power generation. However, they said commercialization of the technology will likely take many years to be fully developed. 9Granholm said the department's ignition success permits scientists for the first time to copy "certain conditions that are found only in the stars and the sun." She added that the result is a major step toward "the possibility of zero-carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society." 10The experiments involved aiming nearly 200 lasers at a small capsule that contained fuel. When the lasers ignited the fuel, two lighter atoms were joined together to create a denser one. This process produced more energy than was required to ignite it, the scientists said. 11The experiment briefly reached "fusion ignition" by generating 3.15 megajoules of energy output. This was after the laser targeting the capsule used 2.05 megajoules of energy, the Energy Department said. A megajoule is a measurement for energy output. 12Nuclear scientists not involved in the latest result praised the success as a major breakthrough. But they noted there is much more science to be done before fusion can develop into a profitable industry. 13Riccardo Betti is a professor at New York's University of Rochester and an expert in laser fusion. He compared the latest result to when humans first learned that refining oil into gasoline and igniting it could produce an explosion. 14"You still don't have the engine, and you still don't have the tires," Betti said. "You can't say that you have a car." 15Tony Roulstone is a nuclear energy expert at the University of Cambridge in Britain. He told Reuters news agency that while interesting, the latest experiment still leaves scientists a long way from turning the process into useful, limitless energy. 16Roulstone said that in order to become commercially successful, a power plant would have to produce enough energy to also power the laser equipment and generate a continuous ignition process. 17I'm Bryan Lynn. 18Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, The Associated Press and Reuters. 19_____________________________________________________________ 20Words in This Story 21breakthrough - n. an important discovery 22generate - v. to produce energy 23ignite - v. to make something start to burn 24commercialize - v. to organize something to make a profit 25decade - n. a period of 10 years 26milestone - n. an important event in the develop or history of something 27abundant - adj. more than enough 28capsule - n. a small container 29refine - v. to make a substance pure by removing unwanted material 30______________________________________________________________ 31What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 32Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.