The dream of nuclear fusion is closer – the announcement of the United States

For the first time, a group of scientists has managed to produce more energy from nuclear fusion than was used to trigger the reaction. The indiscretion comes from the Financial Times, but several other American newspapers confirmed the news after consulting various sources. The official announcement is expected tomorrowwhen the US Department of Energy will hold a press conference.

Nuclear fusion it is the nuclear reaction that takes place in the Sun and other stars, which produces energy from the fusion of four hydrogen atoms to generate one helium. Scientists have been trying to replicate this process for over 50 years, because fusion generates smaller amounts of radiation e waste easier to manage than fission, the technology of existing nuclear power plants. If the research is successful – and the announcement of the US Department of Energy in this sense is excellent news – we could potentially have a source of clean and safe energy, practically without waste and available in unlimited quantities. But for this to be possible in large quantities and at an affordable price, it may still take many years.

The American one is not the only active research front on fusion, but it could be decisive because so far no one had ever managed to produce more energy than that used for the experiment, as the scientists of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Calif.

Europe has also invested heavily in this technology. Earlier this year, Europe’s largest experimental nuclear fusion reactor, France’s Jet, achieved 59 megajoules (11 megawatts of energy), doubling the record it set in 1997. The reactor is part of the Iter project, a European cooperation program active since 1978.