The US National Ignition Facility is the only laboratory where a nuclear-fusion reaction has generated more energy than it consumed. Here's how it achieved this historic milestone and sparked fresh interest in fusion energy. The target bay at the US National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California, holds a huge 130,000-kilogram spherical chamber (shown here) in which 192 laser beams converge on a small pellet of frozen isotopes with the aim of fusing their nuclei. The Sun shone brightly on Livermore, California, on 8 June 2011, when researchers charged up the world's largest laser for its first major fusion experiment. It might have seemed like a good omen for the stadium-sized facility, which is a flagship project of the US nuclear weapons programme. That day, the laser at the US National Ignition Facility (NIF) blasted a pea-sized target with a huge jolt of energy. It was an important first step, but the test ended with a brief flash and a fizzle. This result would become...
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