INSIDE THE FUSION REACTOR
How lasers can force hydrogen atoms to fuse
NUCLEAR FUSION LEVELS UP
One of the biggest milestones in nuclear fusion has been achieved by the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). In December 2022, NIF scientists conducted an experiment that, for the first time, showed nuclear fusion as a viable energy source. Nuclear fusion on Earth uses the same processes that make the Sun radiate so much energy, just on a much smaller scale.
At its core, the Sun’s mass is so great that gravity forces two atoms of hydrogen to fuse and become a helium atom. As a result, energy is released. The LLNL experiment replicated that process of nuclear fusion using 192 giant laser beams all pointed at a capsule of hydrogen around the size of a piece of popcorn. The lasers compressed the hydrogen to a size more than 100 billion times that of Earth’s atmosphere and heated it to 100 million degrees Celsius. Under these conditions, hydrogen atoms are
