Scientists at the California-based lab repeated the fusion ignition breakthrough in an experiment in the National Ignition Facility on July 30 that produced a higher energy yield than in December, a Lawrence Livermore spokesperson said.a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers on Dec. 5, 2022. The scientists focused a laser on a target of fuel to fuse two light atoms into a denser one, releasing the energy.
That experiment briefly achieved what's known as fusion ignition by generating 3.15 megajoules of energy output after the laser delivered 2.05 megajoules to the target, the Energy Department said. The Energy Department called it "a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power."