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What to Know About Nuclear Fusion

There’s an old joke that nuclear fusion is just 30 years away, and always will be. But the world is now a step closer with the news that a federal research facility has used lasers to achieve a “net energy gain,” producing more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to drive it. Here's why this is relevant for all of our futures, and why many experts are only cautiously optimistic about how soon we'll be able to use the technology.

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What to Know About Nuclear Fusion
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    The Breakthrough

    What the team of government scientists has actually achieved.

    Scientists achieve historic nuclear fusion breakthrough to produce ‘near-limitless’ clean energy

    Scientists in the United States have announced that they have achieved a major breakthrough in nuclear fusion energy in a $3.5bn (£2.85bn) experiment. In an historic step towards the promise of “near-limitless” clean energy, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California used lasers to achieve a “net energy gain”, producing more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to drive it. Nuclear fusion imitates the natural reactions that occur in the Sun. The breakthrough “enables the next steps toward clean fusion energy for the future,” LLNL said. Click here to sign up to our newsletters. Read More UK inflation dips but soaring food and energy prices keep pressure on households Children heard crying in ‘distress call’ on migrant boat that sank in English Channel France and Morocco fans clash in Paris after World Cup semi-finals

    How Nuclear Energy Works, and Why this is such a big step forward

    Why the nuclear fusion breakthrough is so significant in our move towards clean energy.

    Notes of Caution

    Not everyone is wildly excited by the news from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

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