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Nuclear energy research gives hope - 16th January 2023

After nearly a century of research, scientists have made major progress in nuclear fusion. The successful experiment could provide us with reliable, clean energy in the future.

The US National Ignition Facility team in California shot lasers at a fuel 'capsule', a special box. It contained hydrogen atoms and the heat of the lasers made these atoms fuse together. This had happened in the past, but the process always used up more energy than it produced. The result – a 50 percent increase in energy – was a first for scientists.

Using nuclear fusion for energy is something scientists have dreamed about for years. Fusion fuses atoms together. Instead, nuclear power stations split atoms in a process called 'nuclear fission', but fission produces radioactive waste. Getting rid of this waste is an enormous environmental problem.

Nuclear fusion is completely clean and so it could be science's solution to global warming.

According to physics professor Justin Wark, from the University of Oxford, in some ways now 'everything changes', but at the same time 'nothing changes'.

The experiment's lasers need around 300 megajoules of energy to work. They only shoot once a day. To make the process work at a business level, lasers would need to shoot 10 times per second.

Another expert in nuclear power, Dr Mark Wenman of Imperial College London, called the achievement a 'fantastic scientific breakthrough'. However, he added that 'challenges remain'.

This is the beginning of a long, hopeful journey, where the destination is clean energy.