U.S. government scientists in California have achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the second time since December, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Researchers at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory repeated the breakthrough in an experiment on July 30 that produced a higher energy output, the British newspaper said, citing people with knowledge of the results.
The same lab achieved a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers on Dec. 5, 2022. The scientists focused a battery of lasers on a target of fuel to fuse hydrogen atoms into helium, releasing the energy.
The laboratory confirmed to the Financial Times that energy gain had been achieved again at its laser facility, adding that analysis of the results was underway.
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and the U.S. Energy Department did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Fusion, the same process that drives the sun, has the potential to produce nearly limitless amounts of clean energy. But it occurs at temperatures above 180 million degrees and the challenge has been to make the process self sustaining.
