U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made the official announcement Dec. 13 during a news conference at the Dept. of Energy (DOE) in Washington, D.C. Granholm confirmed the news that was first reported Sunday, when news outlets including POWER cited sources that said researchers at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Dec. 5 had produced a fusion reaction that created more energy than it consumed.
Granholm on Tuesday said the fusion experiment at the NIF replicated “certain conditions that are only found in the stars and sun.” Officials said the results of the Dec. 5 reaction needed to be analyzed and peer reviewed before an official announcement of the breakthrough, which is why it was not immediately publicized.
Said Granholm: “Ignition allows us to replicate for the first time certain conditions that are only found in the stars and sun. This milestone moves us one significant step closer to the possibility of zero carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society. This is what it looks like for America to lead, and we’re just getting started. If we can advance fusion energy, we could use it to produce clean electricity, transportation fuels, power, heavy industry and so much more.”
